FAQs

Tether tokens exist as digital tokens built on several leading blockchains, including Algorand, Avalanche, Bitcoin Cash’s Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Polygon, Tezos, Tron, Solana and Statemine. These transport protocols consist of open source software that interface with blockchains to allow for the issuance and redemption of Tether tokens. 

Every Tether token is 100% backed by our reserves, which includes traditional currency and cash equivalents, and may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties.

The Tether platform is fully reserved when the sum of all Tether tokens in circulation is less than or equal to the value of our reserves. Through our Transparency page, anyone can view both of these numbers on a daily basis.

Tether was originally created to use the Bitcoin network as its transport protocol—specifically, the Omni Layer—to allow transactions of tokenised traditional currency. Since this original version of Tether uses the Bitcoin blockchain, it inherits the inherent stability and security of the longest established blockchain network.

Tether on the Ethereum blockchain, as an ERC20 token, is a newer transport layer, which now makes Tether tokens available in Ethereum smart contracts or decentralized applications on Ethereum. As a standard ERC20 token it can also be sent to any Ethereum address.

Since Tether tokens are currently available using different transport protocols, when users send Tether tokens to other addresses, they need to carefully check the destination address to confirm they are selecting the correct transport protocol.

Tether tokens are assets that move across the blockchain just as easily as other digital currencies but that are pegged to real-world currencies on a 1-to-1 basis.

Tether tokens are referred to as stablecoins because they offer price stability as they are pegged to a fiat currency. This offers traders, merchants and funds a low volatility solution when exiting positions in the market.

All Tether tokens are pegged at 1-to-1 with a matching fiat currency (e.g., 1 USD₮ = 1 USD) and are backed 100% by Tether’s reserves.

As a fully transparent company, we publish a daily record of the current total assets and reserves.

Tether supports US dollars (USD), euros, Mexican peso, offshore Chinese yuan, and Gold, with the following Tether tokens, respectively: USD₮, EUR₮, MXN₮, CNH₮ and XAU₮.

Tether tokens enable businesses – including exchanges, wallets, payment processors, financial services and ATMs – to easily use fiat currencies on blockchains. Some of the largest businesses in the digital currency ecosystem have integrated Tether tokens.

View industry supporters. 

Individuals can also use Tether-enabled platforms to transact with Tether tokens.

Tether tokens (USD₮) are created by having multiple Tether private authorisation keys sign and broadcast creation transactions on the specific blockchain. These new tokens are “authorised but not issued”, meaning that these USD₮ are stored in Tether’s treasury and not in circulation until issued in response to market demand.

Tether’s multi-signature (or multi-sig) model prevents a single person from issuing USD₮ on their own, which would represent a single point of failure and a security risk.

Because they are anchored or ‘tethered’ to real-world currencies on a 1-to-1 basis and backed by our reserves.

Tether tokens are new assets that move across the blockchain just as easily as other digital currencies. Tether currencies are not money, but are digital tokens formatted to work on blockchains. Tether tokens hold their value at 1:1 to the underlying assets.

Tether is built on top of the revolutionary and cryptographically secure open blockchain technologies and adheres to strict security and global government laws and regulations.

All Tether tokens are pegged at 1-to-1 with a matching fiat currency (e.g., 1 USD₮ = 1 USD) and are backed 100% by Tether’s reserves. As a fully transparent company, we publish a daily record of our bank balances and the value of our reserves.

Tether tokens can be securely stored, sent and received across the blockchain and are redeemable for cash (the underlying pegged asset) pursuant to Tether Limited’s terms of service.

Tether tokens (USD₮) that are “authorised but not issued” are tokens that are created on a blockchain and sitting in Tether’s treasury. As these tokens have not been issued, these tokens are not counted as part of the total market capitalization of USD₮. 

“Issued” USD₮ are authorised tokens that have been sold and issued to Tether’s customers and in actual circulation. “Issued” USD₮ are fully backed by Tether’s reserves.

Inventory replenishment is the process of creating new USD₮ that are stored in Tether’s treasury inventory as “authorised but not issued” USD₮. These tokens are not part of the total market capitalization of USD₮, as they have not been issued or released into circulation yet.

Across the world, online and brick and mortar stores accept Tether tokens as a valid payment method. More importantly, you can spend Tether tokens and enjoy low transaction fees combined with price stability for purchasing some of your favorite products and services. 

You can find further information in Paying with Tether

Yes. Tether’s platform is built to be transparent at all times. All Tether tokens are backed 100% by Tether’s reserves.

View more transparency information.

Tether tokens (USD₮) are sometimes burned to reduce the number of outstanding tokens existing on a specific blockchain. 

These outstanding tokens could be from a customer’s redemption of their USD₮ holdings for fiat currency. These redeemed and returned USD₮ could alternatively be held by Tether’s treasury (thus out of circulation and not part of the total market capitalization), ready for future issuance only in response to new market demand.

“Authorised but not issued” USD₮ are required to keep the entire creation and issuance process as secure as possible. There is a need to balance the security risks to Tether’s private keys and catering to new market demand for USD₮.

By creating “authorised but not issued” USD₮, Tether limits the number of times Tether’s signers need to access their authorisation private keys, thereby reducing their exposure to security threats.

With “authorised but not issued” USD₮ stored in Tether’s treasury (and not in circulation or part of Tether’s market capitalization), Tether can issue these USD₮ as soon as new customer funds are received. This ensures that every USD₮ issued is 100% backed by Tether’s reserves.

A new user can begin the registration process by filling in their personal details on the Tether sign up page here. 

As part of Tether’s robust security measures, the user must activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for their Tether account. The user must pay a verification fee of 150 USD₮ (the amount is non-refundable but can be part of future redemptions).

The user must then undergo a verification process, either as an individual or corporate, and submit all required documents.

Tether’s compliance team will then review the user’s verification request. As Tether’s robust Know Your Customer (KYC) process includes conducting due diligence on all customers and rating the risks of every customer, this review could take days to weeks to complete. The user will be notified once account verification has been completed.