Tether Brings Its $184 Billion Stablecoin Back to Bitcoin: Will BTC Regain Its Role as a Payments Network?

Quick Read

• Tether relaunches its $184 billion USDT on Bitcoin in October 2026, 12 years after abandoning it for faster, cheaper networks like Tron and Ethereum.

• The RGB protocol keeps most USDT transaction data off Bitcoin's main chain, giving miners minimal fee revenue from the relaunch.

• 92% of Salvadorans skipped Bitcoin payments in 2024, and no major exchanges have pledged support for Bitcoin-based USDT yet.

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Tether is set to relaunch its USDT (CRYPTO: USDT) stablecoin on the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) network in October 2026, marking a return 12 years after its initial launch. This new integration will connect Bitcoin, the oldest blockchain, directly with USDT, the largest stablecoin valued at around $184 billion, designed to maintain a value of $1.

In previous years, USDT shifted away from Bitcoin to take advantage of faster and cheaper networks, predominantly operating on platforms like Tron and Ethereum. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino captured the sentiment of this return with the phrase, "It's coming home." But does this move mean that Bitcoin will become a payments network again?