Tether Denies Building a Dedicated Blockchain; Paolo Ardoino: We Have No Such Plans

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, has denied rumors about the company building a dedicated blockchain, stating that Tether has no plans to launch an independent network; a position that contradicts a published analysis that placed the company in a billion-dollar competition with Stripe and Circle.

According to Mihan Blockchain, this decision seems strange at first glance. Tether moves a significant portion of its $183 billion Tether (USDT) supply across networks like Tron and Ethereum, consequently paying hefty transfer fees to other blockchains. However, this very neutrality of the network could be one of Tether's most important advantages in competing with rivals seeking to build their own dedicated infrastructure.

How Did the Tether Blockchain Story Begin?

Yesterday, CoinMarketCap published an analysis claiming that Tether, alongside companies like Circle and Stripe, is looking to build a "stablechain"; blockchains whose main goal is to provide a fast and cheap infrastructure for transferring digital dollars.

In this context, Stripe is working on the Tempo network, designed for stablecoin-based payments. Circle is also developing the Arc blockchain, focusing on enterprise settlements.

Tether's presence on this list, however, was due to the company's support for the Plasma and Stable networks. The Stable network focuses on enterprise applications and uses USDT for fee payments; Plasma targets small users and has raised about $373 million in its token sale.

However, Paolo Ardoino emphasized that supporting or investing in a network does not mean that Tether is building and operating it. He explicitly stated on Saturday that the company is not developing its own dedicated blockchain and has no such plans.

He said:

Tether is neither building a blockchain nor has plans to do so. We remain independent of any specific network and support multiple networks and transfer infrastructures for our stablecoins.

Why Doesn’t Tether Want a Dedicated Blockchain?

A significant portion of Tether's stablecoin supply continues to move across networks like Tron and Ethereum. This strategy, however, comes at a high cost for users. CoinMarketCap's research estimates that USDT holders pay about $2.9 billion annually in fees to other blockchains; revenue that could largely be retained by Tether if it had its own dedicated blockchain.

However, it seems that Tether is willing to forgo this revenue to maintain the liquidity and broad accessibility of USDT across various networks and platforms.

The market value of USDT is currently around $183 billion, and operating on multiple networks allows this capital to circulate across dozens of markets and platforms. Creating a dedicated network could reduce some of this flexibility.

Of course, rejecting the construction of a dedicated blockchain does not mean Tether is distancing itself from developing blockchain infrastructures. The company continues to support projects like Plasma and Stable, but ownership or control of these networks should not be equated with launching a "Tether blockchain."