Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.
On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.
USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT) designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.
Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. One month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.
Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.
Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard
In February, Optimism’s chief growth officer, Ryan Wyatt, told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value — a figure that has since grown to $4.2 billion.
Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain
Stablecoin adoption heats up
Superchain said that deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.
The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.
Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.
In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz
Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.
With President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.
The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.
Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally
