Near network has added Tether (USDT), the stablecoin issued by Tether Operations Limited, to its supported assets. The inclusion of USDT on the Near blockchain will be an essential component of its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. With a market cap of $153 billion, USDT is the most valuable stablecoin. As of the time of this writing, the stablecoin has a market capitalization of about $67.7 billion. Also, in terms of market capitalization, USDT ranks third among all digital assets.
A layer 1 blockchain, Near Network enables developers to build decentralized applications (dApps). Approximately 700 different projects are now under development on the network. At the same time, on Monday, The Near Foundation unveiled a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab dedicated to Web3 innovation.
Tether’s status as the stablecoin with the largest user base in the world is bolstered by the integration of USDT into the NEAR network. It is now available on 12 blockchains in total. The other blockchains in the list include Tron, Ethereum, Kusama, Polygon, Omni, Standard Ledger Protocol, EOS, Algorand, Solana, Tezos and Liquid Network.
Tether has also been expanding its stablecoin offerings to support additional fiat currencies. Recently, the company introduced a stablecoin pegged to the Mexican peso as well as a cryptocurrency backed by the British pound. Earlier in the year, Tether announced a collaboration with Bitfinex and Hypercore. The partnership has led to the release of a messaging app called Keet that is powered by the blockchain.
At present, Tron and Ethereum account for the bulk of USDT issuance. More than 96% of all Tether USDT issued is distributed over these two networks. Many investors see stablecoins as attractive digital currencies and use them as a cushion against crypto volatility. However, the collapse of LUNA a few months ago has increased scrutiny of stablecoins and attracted stricter regulations from governments.
This post was last modified on Sep 13, 2022, 09:02 BST 09:02