Tether Halts USDT Issuance on EOS and Algorand Blockchains

Tether announced its decision to immediately discontinue support for the EOS and Algorand blockchain implementations of USDT on June 24.Tether’s blog post emphasized the decision was part of the company’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a robust blockchain ecosystem while focusing resources on platforms that best serve the community’s needs.

Tether to Optimize its Blockchain Ecosystem

Following the termination of new USDT minting on these platforms, Tether will continue to redeem USDT on EOS and Algorand for the next 12 months. “Further changes may be evaluated and announced around that time,” the company noted.

Tether Announces Strategic Transition to Prioritize Community-Driven Blockchain Support
Read more: https://t.co/UCL1MJt2WO

— Tether (@Tether_to) June 24, 2024

According to Tether, the move is a step towards optimizing its blockchain ecosystem by prioritizing community-driven support and resource allocation.

“Community interest plays a pivotal role when we bring USDT to specific blockchains,” the announcement read.

The company seeks to allocate resources to enhance security and efficiency while supporting innovation across the crypto ecosystem. Tether said it will continue to support other protocols and chains that the community finds valuable, encouraging the expansion of USDT use cases across various platforms.

USDT Goes In and Out of Different Blockchains Due to Minimal Adoption

Tether USDT was launched on the Algorand blockchain in 2020, and it has seen minimal adoption there. Only $17 million USDT is held by 39,000 holders, and a reserve allocation of $18 trillion is allocated. Similarly, on the Eos blockchain, where USDT was introduced in May 2019, there are currently $85 million USDT tokens distributed among 32,000 holders. These figures represent a tiny fraction of the overall USDT supply, with a market cap of $112 billion.As of June 22, 2024, EOS-based USDT in circulation amounts to $75.5 million, approximately 0.06% of all circulating USDT. Algorand-based USDT holds an even smaller share, with around $17 million, or about 0.01% of the total supply. These low adoption rates have prompted Tether to cease issuing USDT on these blockchains.The move follows Tether’s August 2023 decision to stop minting USDT on three other blockchains: Kusama, Bitcoin Cash’s Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), and the original USDT blockchain, the Omni Layer Protocol. Tether’s first tokens were issued on Bitcoin through the Omni Layer Protocol in October 2014.Despite withdrawing from Algorand and EOS, Tether is expanding its presence on new blockchain networks. In April 2024, Tether launched USDT on The Open Network (TON), minting approximately $500 million of stablecoins on this platform. This represents 0.44% of the total circulating supply of USDT.