Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.
On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.
USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.
Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.
Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.
Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard
In February, Optimism Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value, which has since grown to $4.2 billion.
Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain
Stablecoin adoption heats up
Superchain said deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.
The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.
Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.
In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz
Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.
With US President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.
The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.
Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally
