The largest stablecoin by market capitalization Tether is ready to expand its stablecoin to the Polkadot and Kusama networks.
Parachains and the DeFi Ecosystem
Dubbed the Polkadot’s cousin network, Kusama helps projects prepare for deployment on Polkadot and is built using Substrate (a framework for building other blockchains).
According to Tether, the USDt would first launch on Kusama before Polkadot.
Speaking on the new offering, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino expressed excitement at the launching of USDt on Polkadot. He added;
“Polkadot is one of the most exciting projects in the digital token ecosystem, and we anticipate a ready uptake of the Tether token as it powers Polkadot’s emerging DeFi ecosystem. Polkadot, with its parachain structure, has the ability to grow significantly in the coming years. This growth will be driven by its high level of scalability.”
The stablecoin already has a presence on several networks including Ethereum, Algorand, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Tron, Bitcoin Cash, and Solana.
Founded in 2016 by Gavin Wood, former Co-Founder and CTO of Ethereum, Polkadot connects blockchains to enable users to transfer tokens and data (such as text) between them by working with both public and private blockchains. Its DOT coin is ranked sixth by market capitalization.
Tether’s Expansion Amid Legal Troubles
Tether is the most commonly used stablecoin in the crypto ecosystem and is largely used for trading and sending money between exchanges. Its token, the USDt, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain, has a market cap of $43 billion.
Like every other stablecoin, the USDt is backed by the same value as traditional fiat currencies like the US dollar, Japanese Yen, or the Euro.
As seen with the new launch on Kusama and Polkadot, Tether continues to expand beyond the blockchains it currently operates on. Last month, Tether launched on the Solana blockchain, making it the eighth network USDt is on.
Tether has had its share of scrutiny in the past. It previously had a case with the New York Attorney General where the company was alleged to have misrepresented the degree to which USDt coins were backed by fiat collateral. The Stablecoin issuer was charged for allegedly attempting to hide financial losses. The company admitted to no wrongdoing.
As part of the case settlement, Tether, alongside fellow crypto exchange Bitfinex, was told to report its current reserve status and budget. Both companies were also made to report any transactions between them and provide public reports for their cash and non-cash reserves’ specific composition.
The companies were then ordered to pay $18.5 million as part of a settlement and were barred from operating in New York.
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