Original Title: “Why Did Tether Terminate the Minting of USDT on the EOS and Algorand Chains?”
Original Author: Zhang Joy, BlockTempo of ChainNews
Stablecoin leader Tether announced a strategic shift yesterday (24th) to prioritize issuing USDT on blockchain networks driven by communities. Tether stated, “At Tether, we are committed to maintaining a strong and innovative blockchain ecosystem for USDT and all other tokens we issue. To fulfill this commitment, we will continuously evaluate the current transport layer and strive to balance maintainability, availability, and community interests.”
Tether Ceases Issuing USDT on EOS and Algorand
At the same time, Tether announced that, after comprehensive consideration, they will suspend the issuance of USDT on the public blockchains EOS and Algorand, and continue to support protocols or public chains deemed useful by the community. “Starting today (June 24, 2024), Tether will stop minting USDT on EOS and Algorand. Over the next 12 months, Tether will continue to redeem USDT on EOS and Algorand as usual, and if there are any other changes, we will announce them promptly after evaluation.”
Why Did Tether Abandon EOS and Algorand?
According to the Tether official website, the blockchains on which Tether issues USDT currently include Tron, Ethereum, Solana, Ton, Avalanche, Near, and others.
– Tron has the largest circulation on Tron, with a total circulation of over $59.8 billion.
– Ethereum, as the second-largest cryptocurrency, has a circulation of nearly $52 billion.
– The popular blockchain Solana, which has made a comeback, has a circulation of approximately $1.89 billion.
– Even Ton, which only received Tether support this year, currently has a circulation of $580 million.
In contrast, EOS and Algorand, as veteran public blockchains, have circulations of only $85.2 million and $17.2 million, respectively. It seems that they may indeed lack attractiveness to users, perhaps a reason for Tether’s abandonment.
On the other hand, some people in the crypto community speculate that, based on Tether’s wording in the announcement, “We will carefully evaluate the network’s security architecture to ensure the security, availability, and sustainability of the chosen blockchain. Our goal is to allocate resources to places that can maximize security and efficiency.” This move by Tether may also suggest that EOS and Algorand are not decentralized enough, which could potentially expose Tether to regulatory risks in the future.
However, this speculation has not been confirmed by Tether, and it is unlikely that they will do so in the future. Nonetheless, we can continue to observe whether Tether will continue to withdraw support for more public blockchains or add new ones.
