Tether's USDT will return to the Bitcoin network this month

Tether's USDT will return to the Bitcoin network this month, issued through the Tether-supported infrastructure project Utexo. With a market capitalization of nearly $190 billion, USDT is the largest stablecoin in the world, originally launched on the Bitcoin Omni protocol in 2014, and later Ethereum and Tron became its main issuance networks. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated on X last week, "It's coming home." Utexo was established in 2025 and completed a $7.5 million funding round earlier this year, led by Tether, and has obtained a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin.

Utexo uses the RGB protocol with client-side validation, keeping most transaction data off the Bitcoin public ledger, with ownership anchored on UTXO. Unlike the account models of Ethereum and Tron, transaction details are completely stored off-chain between the two parties, with the Bitcoin ledger used solely for cryptographic proof of ownership. Utexo offers three main use cases: private USDT transfers, direct exchanges between native BTC and USDT, and lending collateralized by native Bitcoin, without the need for cross-chain wrapping like WBTC.

Since RGB assets are ultimately anchored to Bitcoin UTXO, Utexo cannot freeze assets like Tether can freeze Ethereum addresses, but instead maintains a blacklist of UTXO associated with sanctioned or illegal activities and distributes it to exchanges and other institutions, rendering these UTXO non-redeemable.