TL;DR
Tether Integration: Tether has launched its USDT and XAUT stablecoins on Telegram’s TON blockchain, aiming to enhance liquidity and create a financial experience akin to traditional systems.
Blockchain Expansion: With the addition of TON, Tether’s stablecoins are now available on 15 blockchains, bolstering TON’s position as the ninth-largest blockchain by market value.
Payment Evolution: The partnership between Tether and Telegram is set to simplify global payments, with TON’s infrastructure enabling easy fiat-to-crypto transactions and the potential for a borderless peer-to-peer payment system.
Tether Operations Limited has launched its flagship stablecoin, Tether USDT, and its gold-pegged stablecoin, Tether Gold (XAUT), on The Open Network (TON) blockchain. This strategic partnership with Telegram’s Web3 ecosystem signifies a major step towards a borderless financial system.
The news was announced on April 19 during speeches by Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Telegram founder Pavel Durov at the Token2049 event in Dubai. By incorporating USDT and XAUT into the TON blockchain, it is anticipated that liquidity and activity within the network will improve, giving users a financial experience similar to conventional systems.
Tether has now expanded to TON, making it available on 15 blockchains such as Tron and Ethereum. The TON network has recently exceeded Dogecoin to become the ninth-largest blockchain in terms of market value, demonstrating its increasing importance in the cryptocurrency industry. The collaboration is rooted in a shared vision of an open internet and a decentralized financial landscape.
“The launch of USDT and XAUT on TON will allow seamless value transfer, increasing activity and liquidity while offering users a financial experience that can match those found in the traditional financial system,” stated Ardoino.
The Future of Payments: Tether’s Role in Telegram’s Ecosystem
TON’s one-of-a-kind environment makes it easy to switch between regular money and cryptocurrency, to surpass traditional financial systems in terms of efficiency and user-friendliness. Jack Booth, the marketing director at TON Foundation, is confident that with fiat on-ramps available at launch and plans for global off-ramps to bank cards and accounts in the works, this will be the first opportunity for a large audience to use cryptocurrency infrastructure for worldwide payments.
The integration also builds upon existing intersections between Tether and TON. USDT has been available on Wallet, a third-party custodial wallet accessible to Telegram users, since at least 2023. The Tron network currently serves as the default blockchain for USDT on Wallet, but TON-based USDT will soon become another option, offering users more flexibility.
In March 2024, Tether introduced a recovery tool that lets users move USDT across various blockchains. Around the same time, Tether’s USDT stablecoin reached a milestone with a market cap of $100 billion, reinforcing its leading role in the stablecoin market.
As Tether and Telegram continue to forge a closer relationship, the potential for a simple, borderless peer-to-peer payment system for Telegram’s vast user base becomes increasingly tangible.