Stablecoin USDT Launched on Tron Blockchain

Tether has started issuing its stablecoin USDT on the Tron (TRX) blockchain. The development was announced in a blog post published on April 17.

The development is an upgrade from the OMNI protocol-based USDT —  which is pegged to the United States dollar on a 1:1 basis — that now enables users to hold and transfer the cryptocurrency through smart contracts on Tron ensuring instant delivery.

“It enables interoperability with Tron-based protocols and Decentralised Applications (DApps) while allowing users to transact and exchange fiat pegged currencies across the Tron Network,” the announcement explains.

Tron will reportedly be settling the matter with digital currency exchanges including Singapore-based Huobi, Hong Kong-based OKEx and others, starting from April 30th until the beginning of August.

Tron and Tether initially announced a partnership to introduce USDT to the Tron network in early March. A press release then read that USDT on Tron will make the blockchain as a whole more amenable to enterprise-level partners and institutional investors.

The stablecoin previously faced controversy after critics had suspected the coin of operating a fractional reserve while issuing more tokens than they have backing for, and sending them to Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange. Following a subpoena by United States regulators to both Bitfinex and Tether, the company ordered an unofficial audit, which found that stablecoin had the appropriate amount of backing dollars.

At press time, USDT is the eighth largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap. The coin is currently trading at around $1.00, having lost 0.20% over the past 24 hours.