Tether to sunset USDT on five legacy blockchains, including Algorand and Omni

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, will phase out its stablecoin services on five “legacy” blockchains — Algorand, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Kusama, and Omni — as it streamlines operations and aligns with user demand. Redemptions will be discontinued and remaining tokens frozen on those chains starting Sept. 1, the company said.

“Sunsetting support for these legacy chains allows us to focus on platforms that offer greater scalability, developer activity, and community engagement — all key components for driving the next wave of stablecoin adoption,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement. 

Tether announced as early as August 2023 that it would discontinue support for its Bitcoin Cash, Kusama, and Omni implementations due to low usage and increasingly degraded performance. While minting was previously halted on those chains, redemptions for greenbacks remained active until now. 

Notably, Omni was the first transport layer for USDT when it was launched in 2014. Omni was an early scaling layer for Bitcoin, but its usage declined as competitors emerged. The firm noted that it is “doubling down” on Layer 2s, such as Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, which was mentioned by name. 

According to Tether’s transparency page , over its lifetime there has been about $3.5 million USDT issued on Kusama with less than $250,000 remaining in circulation, about $5 million issued on Bitcoin Cash with under $1 million in circulation, and about $888 million issued on Omni with about $82 million tokens in circulation. 

Approximately $85 million has been issued on EOS, a delegated proof-of-stake alternative to Ethereum, with under $5 million in circulation. Meanwhile, around $841,000 has been issued and remains circulating on Algorand, another alternative smart contract blockchain. Kusama is a so-called "canary network" for Polkadot, designed to test experimental features.

“Tether customers holding USD₮ on Omni, Kusama, SLP, EOS, and Algorand should redeem their holdings as soon as possible or, if desired, request an issuance of USD₮ on a supported blockchain, in accordance with our Terms of Service,” Tether wrote. 

Tron and Ethereum currently dominate USDT issuance, with about $81 billion and $74 billion authorized onchain, respectively. That accounts for the majority of the $159 billion net USDT tokens in circulation, which are backed by a mix of cash and cash-like assets, according to Tether’s transparency page. 

The move comes amid a regulatory reckoning for stablecoins in the U.S. and abroad, especially as U.S. lawmakers make progress on getting a “stablecoin bill” on President Donald Trump’s desk to sign into law this summer. 

Additionally, Tether has been impacted by the introduction of the European Union’s Market in Crypto Assets legislation. Since its implementation, several firms operating in the EU have taken steps to delist or depromote USDT on their platforms.