# Tether (USDT)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/tether
> research date 2026-06-01 · extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Tether — official](https://tether.to/)

## Key details

- **Parent:** CEO Paolo Ardoino
- **Launch:** 2014

## Overview
**Tether (USDT)** is **the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization** and **a US-dollar-pegged token issued across many blockchains** (Ethereum/ERC-20, Tron/TRC-20, Solana and others) <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [global-cro]</sup>. It is the dominant settlement and trading-pair asset across crypto exchanges and a key on/off-ramp proxy for the US dollar in many markets.

## History
**2014 — launched as Realcoin** by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins and Craig Sellars, soon rebranded Tether (USDT).
**2015–2017 — adopted as a base trading pair** across exchanges, closely associated with Bitfinex.
**2019–2021 — settles with the New York Attorney General and the US CFTC** over reserve-disclosure and reporting issues, agreeing to fines and periodic reserve attestations.
**2022–2024 — maintains its peg through market stress** and grows reserves heavily into US Treasuries, reporting large profits.
**2024–2025 — relocates headquarters to El Salvador** under its digital-asset framework and remains the largest stablecoin by far.

## Ownership & operator
**Operating entity**: **Tether Holdings Limited** (now headquartered in El Salvador; historically British Virgin Islands).
**Major shareholders**: **the same ownership group behind Bitfinex/iFinex** (privately held; limited public disclosure), led by CEO **Paolo Ardoino**.
**Regulators**: **El Salvador** digital-asset licensing; prior **US NYAG and CFTC** settlements; not authorized as an EU MiCA e-money token issuer.

## Technical integration
USDT is issued as tokens on multiple chains, primarily Ethereum (ERC-20) and Tron (TRC-20), plus Solana, Avalanche and others, transferred via standard crypto wallet addresses. There is no consumer wallet app; USDT is held in third-party wallets and exchanges and used for trading, remittances and dollar-proxy savings.

## Implementations & partners
**Major competitors**: [Circle (USDC)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/circle) (USDC issuer) and other stablecoin issuers; integrated across virtually all major exchanges including [Binance](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/binance), [Coinbase](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/coinbase) and [Kraken](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/kraken).

## Status
**Active, the dominant global stablecoin and a core piece of crypto market infrastructure** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>.

## Sources

[1]: https://tether.to/ "Tether — official"
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether_(cryptocurrency) "Tether — Wikipedia"
[global-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/US

- [1] [Tether — official][1]
- [2] [Tether — Wikipedia][2]
- [global-cro] In-corpus: `reports/countries/US-united-states.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [tether.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/tether). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.