On Tuesday, Tether unveiled its new self-custodial digital wallet named Tether.Wallet. This platform supports the company’s primary stablecoin, USDT, along with USAT aimed at the U.S. market, as well as Bitcoin and its gold-backed token, XAUT.
The wallet facilitates transactions for USDT and XAUT on Ethereum, Polygon, Plasma, and Arbitrum networks, while also supporting USAT on Ethereum and Bitcoin on both mainnet and via the Lightning Network. A notable feature is that it allows users to transfer funds using user-friendly Tether names instead of complex wallet addresses, with transaction fees being paid in the asset itself—this eliminates the necessity for holding separate network or gas tokens.
Built upon Tether’s open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK), the platform aims to simplify digital transactions. “With over 570 million people already utilizing Tether’s technology, our next step is making this digital infrastructure more accessible and user-friendly,” stated Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. He emphasized that the goal is to ease the complexity hindering broader adoption while maintaining valuable aspects of digital assets technology. “Users should be able to send value as effortlessly as sending a message, without intermediaries or relinquishing control over their assets.”
Ardoino dubbed the wallet “the People’s Wallet,” highlighting its design for mainstream users rather than exclusively crypto enthusiasts. He suggested it is prepared for an era where billions of humans, machines, and AI agents transact seamlessly at lightning speed.
Tether anticipates adding tens of millions of new wallets each quarter by leveraging its status as the largest stablecoin issuer globally. This wallet launch marks Tether’s most significant direct venture into end-user infrastructure to date, positioning it as a competitor to established platforms like MetaMask and Phantom.
Operating USDT, the world’s most widely used stablecoin with a market value nearing $185 billion, Tether also issues Tether Gold (XAUT), a digital token representing one troy ounce of physical gold stored securely in professional vaults, backed 1:1 by allocated gold holdings. In January, Tether collaborated with Anchorage Digital to launch USAT, a U.S.-focused stablecoin.