As the digital currency landscape continues to evolve, Tether has announced a major shake-up to its blockchain support strategy. The stablecoin giant is cutting ties with five legacy blockchains: Omni Layer, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS, and Algorand. Users have until September 1, 2025, to figure out their next move. Yeah, that’s right – nearly two years to get your act together.
Tether’s giving five blockchain networks the boot, leaving users with a generous 24 months to sort themselves out.
These old chains were once crucial to Tether’s growth. Now? Not so much. Transaction volumes have tanked, developers have moved on, and maintaining nodes on these ghostly networks has become a money pit. It’s like keeping your childhood flip phone charged “just in case.” Tether’s basically saying: time to upgrade, folks. The costs of running these networks likely outweighed benefits, similar to how gas fees can make Ethereum transactions expensive during peak times.
Don’t panic though. Your tokens aren’t suddenly worthless. Users can still transfer USDT between wallets on these networks after the deadline. It’s just that no new tokens will be issued, and direct redemptions through Tether will stop. The blockchain equivalent of “no new customers, please.”
For anyone holding USDT on these soon-to-be-abandoned chains, options exist. You can migrate to supported networks through exchanges, Tether’s official tool, or cross-chain bridges. Or just cash out directly with Tether before the deadline hits. Just watch those third-party bridge fees – they’ll eat your lunch if you’re not careful.
Going forward, Tether’s doubling down on what works: Ethereum, Tron, and Solana. These networks have the users, the developers, and the transaction volumes that make business sense. The company revised its approach based on community feedback and will not be freezing smart contracts as initially planned. They’re also expanding into Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network. Smart money follows the crowd.
Tether seems committed to not leaving users high and dry. They’ve already modified plans based on feedback – originally planning a complete freeze but now allowing transfers to continue. The company recently announced USDT on the RGB protocol for Bitcoin. Still, the message is clear: the future belongs to high-volume, developer-rich blockchains with real utility. The rest? History.
