USDT
Tether's USDT — the world's most transacted stablecoin, dominant on Tron and in DeFi lending.
USDT is a USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether Operations Limited, with reserves consisting primarily of US Treasury bills, money market funds, and cash as disclosed in Tether's quarterly reserve attestations. As of Q2 2026, USDT circulating supply sat near $189B (DeFiLlama stablecoins, May 2026), the largest of any stablecoin by a wide margin. USDT is natively issued on approximately 15 chains including Tron (~45% of supply), Ethereum (~40%), and Solana; LayerZero's USDT0 (a wrapped OFT representation) extends reach to chains where Tether does not issue natively. In DeFi lending, USDT is the second-largest supply-side stablecoin after USDC, with particular depth on JustLend (Tron) and Aave V3 across EVM chains.
- Circulating supply approximately $189B in May 2026 per DeFiLlama, making USDT the largest stablecoin globally by an order of magnitude.
- Tron holds approximately 45% of outstanding USDT supply as of Q1 2026, cementing it as the dominant stablecoin settlement chain for emerging-market remittances.
- No native canonical cross-chain bridge (unlike USDC's CCTP); inter-chain movement relies on Stargate pools, LayerZero's USDT0, Wormhole, and aggregators.
- JustLend DAO on Tron is the deepest USDT lending venue by TVL; Aave V3 markets on Ethereum and Arbitrum are the largest on EVM chains.
- Tether's reserves have historically included commercial paper, but the company has publicly disclosed a migration to predominantly T-bills by 2024; quarterly attestations are available from BDO Italia but are not full independent audits.
Frequently asked questions
Is USDT more or less risky than USDC as a lending deposit?
USDT's reserve quality has historically drawn more scrutiny than USDC's; Tether has faced DOJ and CFTC settlements and provides attestations (not full audits) from BDO Italia, while Circle publishes monthly full attestation reports from Grant Thornton. Practically in DeFi, both have held their pegs in normal conditions, but USDT's reserve composition and the opacity around Tether's corporate structure make it a different risk profile — neither better nor worse in absolute terms, but less transparent. Always check the current attestation before large deposits.
Can Tether freeze USDT in a lending protocol?
Yes. Tether maintains a blacklist function across its USDT contracts and can freeze balances at specific addresses. In lending protocols, the frozen address is typically the protocol's smart contract, which could theoretically affect all USDT within that pool. This has happened in response to sanctions enforcement and large hack recovery efforts.
Why is USDT borrow demand sometimes higher than USDC?
On chains where USDT is the primary stablecoin (especially Tron), borrowers want the local dominant unit. On EVM chains, USDT's thinner supply means utilization stays higher at the same demand level, pushing rates up. Additionally, some DeFi strategies specifically target USDT because its slight rate premium makes levered carry more attractive.