Tether, the issuing company of the USDT stablecoin, announced that it is abandoning its presence on the EOS and Algorand networks, starting today, June 24. “We carefully evaluate the network security architecture to ensure the security, usability and sustainability of the chosen blockchain,” the company said in a statement. This move aims to allocate resources where they can improve security and efficiency, while supporting innovation in the cryptocurrency landscape, he highlights. The transition will begin with the discontinuation of USDT minting on both networks starting today. However, Tether will continue to redeem USDT on EOS and Algorand over the next 12 months. More changes may be evaluated and announced at that time. The transition will be executed meticulously and with minimal disruption. The company ensures that its main priority continues to be offering a perfect user experience and are committed to facilitating a smooth transition. «We will continue to support the protocols and chains that the community deems useful and will encourage the community to expand the use cases of USDT in each protocol,» they indicated from Tether. Due to this decision, the prices of EOS and ALGO, native tokens of both networks, were not significantly affectedshowing only a slight drop that is in line with overall market trends.
Tether has taken similar steps before
It is not the first time that Tether takes similar measures regarding other networks. In August 2023, the company abandoned support for cryptocurrency networks OmniLayer, BCH-LSP (Simple Ledger Protocol) and Kusama, as reported by BitcoinDynamic. At that time, Tether stated that if a blockchain lacks significant traction for an extended period and shows no signs of recovery in usage indicators, maintaining support becomes inefficient and may jeopardize safety and supervision. The following graph, provided by DefiLlama, shows which networks USDT is active in and what percentage of its supply each network represents:
USDT circulation in various cryptocurrency networks – Source: DefiLlama It is evident that Tron and Ethereum are the dominant networks. On the other hand, EOS and Algorand fall into the «other» category, with less than 0.77% of the circulation between them.