Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, has expanded its reach by launching on the Celo network, a carbon-negative, permissionless platform compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
According to a recent announcement by Tether seen by Cryptopolitan, this new development aims to facilitate efficient transactions and boost functionality across decentralized applications (dApps) focused on payments, lending, and other services by potentially making USDT a gas currency on Celo.
Celo’s partnership with Tether USDT
Celo, known for its mobile-first approach and emphasis on fast, low-cost payments, operates across more than 150 countries and supports over 1,000 projects. This integration will allow USDT to offer benefits such as extremely low transaction fees, around $0.001, broadening its utility in savings, lending, remittances, and cross-border payments. USDT will join other stable assets on Celo, including eXOF and cREAL, which are pegged to the CFA Franc and the Brazilian Real, respectively.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, expressed the company’s commitment to accessible and reliable digital currency solutions worldwide. According to him, the collaboration with Celo is seen as a step forward in Tether’s mission, leveraging Celo’s capabilities to enhance the usability and accessibility of Tether for millions globally.
The alliance between Tether and Celo is described as ushering in a new era of accessibility and utility for crypto users. Tether’s presence on the Celo blockchain adds to its availability on 15 networks, including major ones like Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, Avalanche, and Algorand.
Rene Reinsberg, co-founder and president of Celo and the Celo Foundation, emphasized the integration’s alignment with their mission to create a digital economy that fosters prosperity for everyone. The addition of USDT is expected to offer more options for fast, low-cost payments and strengthen the use cases of stablecoin for users worldwide.
The latest development comes amid rising complaints from the crypto community about the high fees on the Ethereum network as the price of Ether (ETH) crosses $4,000. The rising cost of ETH fees has also affected Ethereum-based USDT, as completing transactions with ERC-20 Tether USDT requires payment of ETH gas fees.
