Tether's USAT Stablecoin Expands Beyond Ethereum Mainnet to Celo

In brief

• Tether’s USAT stablecoin has launched on the Celo blockchain, its first expansion beyond Ethereum.
• Google Cloud provides infrastructure support for the stablecoin’s distribution system.
• A privacy-preserving faucet allows verified users to access USAT tokens through proof-of-humanity verification.

Tether announced Tuesday that the USAT stablecoin has expanded to the Celo blockchain, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, marking the regulated digital dollar’s first deployment beyond the Ethereum mainnet. The launch brings USAT—a stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital and targeted at the U.S. market—to Celo, with Google Cloud providing infrastructure support alongside plans for the stablecoin to serve as a gas currency on the layer-2 network. “More than 566 million people globally use USDT as a reliable way to access and move dollars, particularly in markets where traditional financial infrastructure falls short. Expanding USAT to Celo builds on that foundation by bringing regulated digital dollar infrastructure into one of the most active on-chain economies today,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in a statement. 

“This is how we continue to extend access to trusted, programmable money at a global scale,” he added. “What matters now is ensuring these systems are accessible in the environments where people are already transacting every day.” Celo brings significant mobile reach through Opera MiniPay’s 14 million wallet users globally. Celo co-founder and CEO Rene Reinsberg called the launch “a powerful validation of the infrastructure we’ve spent years building,” highlighting Tether’s selection of Celo for its first layer-2 deployment for USAT following its initial January rollout on Ethereum. The technical implementation includes a mainnet faucet system enabling verified users to access USAT through privacy-preserving proof-of-humanity verification developed with Self and Google Cloud. Following deployment, Celo governance will begin the process to enable USAT as a gas currency on the network. “By bringing USAT to Opera MiniPay’s millions of mobile-first users, we are showing what the next generation of financial access looks like: trusted, compliant, and instantly available,” said Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg, in a statement.

Deloitte performed the first USAT attestation report, released earlier this month, showing that the firm had $17.6 million in reserves—comprised of cash and U.S. Treasuries—backing about $17.5 million in tokens as of January 31. Tether’s flagship USDT stablecoin, which leads the industry with an $184 million market cap, has never had a full independent audit from one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. However, last week, Tether said that it had signed one of the firms for an audit, but did not reveal which firm would do it. A subsequent Financial Times report said KPMG would conduct the audit.