USDT is a stablecoin, that is, a cryptocurrency that keeps its price close to one dollar. The company Tether issues it and backs the tokens with reserves, so one USDT is usually worth around a dollar. A short explanation is in what is a stablecoin.
The easiest way to understand USDT is through an ordinary payment for work. Picture an employer in Europe paying a worker in Argentina 200 USDT. The money arrives within minutes, even at night or on a day off, and the fee is usually far lower than for an international bank transfer. The worker can keep the money as dollars or exchange it for pesos when it is needed.
Unlike a network's own coin, such as bitcoin, USDT exists on several networks at once, that is, systems where transfers are recorded: Tron, Ethereum and TON among them. These are the same dollars travelling different "roads", and for a transfer to arrive, the sender and the recipient have to pick the same network.
USDT is no bank deposit, though. A private company stands behind it, and it can freeze an individual address. Government deposit insurance does not cover stablecoins, USDT included12.
Choosing the network is where beginners often lose money. Back to our example, where an employer in another country pays a worker 200 USDT.
The recipient chooses the network, and the address itself gives it away, that is, the number of the recipient's "account" on the network. The worker sends the employer their address, and if it starts with the letter T, the money is expected on the Tron network (also called TRC-20), so the employer picks Tron as the sending network on the exchange. The table below shows which network an address belongs to by its first characters, and in which coin the fee is paid.
| Network | Address starts with | Fee paid in |
|---|---|---|
| Tron (TRC-20) | T | TRX |
| Ethereum (ERC-20) | 0x | ETH |
| BNB Chain (BEP-20)3 | 0x1 | BNB |
| TON | UQ or EQ2 | Gram |
| Solana | a long string of letters and digits with no 0x | SOL |
Here is how the table helps you keep your money:
General rules for a safe transfer are collected in how to send crypto, and how networks differ from one another is covered in token standards.
Networks also differ in transfer cost and speed. Fees change over time, so the table shows only orders of magnitude.
| Network | Fee | Speed | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tron (TRC-20) | from almost zero to a few dollars4 | about a minute | highest6 |
| Ethereum (ERC-20) | usually cents | minutes | high |
| BNB Chain (BEP-20) | cents | seconds | medium |
| TON | fractions of a cent | seconds | lower |
| Solana | fractions of a cent5 | seconds | lower |
Fees and speed are approximate, as of September 2026; check the exact amount where to check: in your wallet when sending8.
If the choice of network is up to you, compare the fees in your wallet before sending.
New USDT is issued against real dollars, and when fewer tokens should remain in circulation, some of them are destroyed. Everything rests on a simple promise: one USDT can be exchanged with Tether for one dollar at a one-to-one rate, minus a fee9.
In one direction, when dollars turn into tokens, everything is simple: a large client sends Tether, say, a million dollars, the company issues a million new USDT and hands them to the client, and from there the tokens spread across exchanges and wallets, where ordinary people all over the world buy, sell and send them. When a client returns USDT to the company and gets dollars back, the tokens go to Tether, and the company later destroys them so that less USDT stays in circulation.
So Tether must hold at least as much in reserves as there is USDT in circulation; according to the company's reports, it holds slightly more1011. How much has been issued and how large the reserves are right now can be seen on the transparency page.
How units of cryptocurrency appear and disappear in general is explained in what is issuance.
Only verified clients can exchange tokens for dollars directly on Tether's website, and only from a large amount
9. An ordinary person buys and sells USDT on an exchange or directly from other people through a platform that holds the crypto until payment arrives (P2P), at a price around one dollar, with a small spread and a fee.
Backing is what stands behind each token. USDT is backed mostly by short-term US government bonds and cash, assets that can be sold quickly; the reserves also hold other things, including bitcoin and gold10. The exact composition changes, so check it on the transparency page.
What counts as a stablecoin's reserves is explained in what are reserves.
A reserve report shows the reserves on a single date, like counting the till at the end of the day. The audit firm BDO prepares such reports every quarter10. In August 2026 Tether said it had passed a full audit of its 2025 accounts for the first time, carried out by the audit firm KPMG, but the company did not publish the accounts themselves1213. A full audit is stricter than a snapshot report because it checks the accounts for the whole year.
In countries with high inflation, people keep their savings in digital dollars when the local currency loses value. In Argentina, for example, stablecoins account for more than half of all crypto transfers14. How this works in practice is covered in protection from inflation.
You can also send USDT right inside a messenger. Since April 2024 it has worked on the TON network, and you can send it to a friend in the wallet built into Telegram15.
On many exchanges USDT is the main currency for buying other cryptocurrency.
Because of the new EU rules for crypto (MiCA) ⚖️, major exchanges in 2025 removed USDT from ordinary trading for users in the European Economic Area, that is, the EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein16. As a result, a worker or an employer in Europe will find it harder to buy USDT on a local exchange than USDC.
Since 1 September 2025 Tether no longer issues USDT or redeems it for dollars on several older networks. The tokens there are not frozen and can still move between wallets, but Tether no longer supports them174. If you keep USDT somewhere, check your network against Tether's list.
 USDT |  USDC | Dollars in a bank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stays near one dollar? | yes | yes | yes |
| Sends abroad in minutes? | yes | yes | no |
| Reserves checked every month? | no7 | yes | no |
| Sold on major EU exchanges? | no | yes | n/a |
| Can it be blocked? | yes | yes | yes |
| Can a mistaken transfer be reversed? | no | no | varies |
| Can anyone redeem one to one with the issuer? | no9 | in EEA9 | yes |
| Government deposit insurance? | no10 | no10 | yes8 |
More on the neighbouring stablecoin in the USDC profile.
Tether can block USDT at a specific address, for example at the request of police or other government bodies ⚖️9. Tether has already frozen hundreds of millions of dollars linked to fraud19. An ordinary person can also be caught by a freeze after receiving money from an address linked to a crime.
The value of USDT rests on the reserves really existing and being quick to sell. In a moment of panic the price can briefly slip a little below a dollar (what is a depeg). In 2021 US regulators already fined Tether over how it disclosed its reserves ⚖️ (Tether).
Access to USDT depends on the country and on Tether's own decisions, as happened with the older networks. Choosing the wrong network for USDT or mixing up a 0x address is a common cause of losses for beginners.
— Reserve composition and how much USDT has been issued:
— List of supported networks:
— Current network fee:
USDT is issued and redeemed for dollars by Tether International, S.A. de C.V., a company registered in El Salvador920.
In the reverse exchange, Tether does not destroy tokens in other people's wallets. When the company needs to reduce the amount of USDT in circulation, it burns some tokens from its own stock and releases the same amount of reserves. That happened in May 2022: after another stablecoin (TerraUSD) collapsed, holders withdrew about $7 billion within two days, according to Tether, and those USDT were redeemed21.
The KPMG audit for 2025 covered the accounts of Tether International and ended with a clean (unqualified) opinion; this is known from the company's statement, which KPMG confirmed1213.
Binance ended USDT trading for EEA users on 31 March 202516. The older networks where Tether no longer supports USDT and is not obliged to buy it back are Omni, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS and Algorand17. Tether freezes tokens together with the Tron network and the analytics company TRM Labs in a joint group19.
⚖️ In 2021 Tether paid fines to US regulators over how it had disclosed its reserves in 2016–2019: $18.5 million under a settlement with the New York Attorney General (February) and $41 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC (October)2223. This history is covered in the company profile Tether.
How is USDT on TRC-20 different from USDT on ERC-20? It is the same USDT on different networks. TRC-20 is USDT on the Tron network, ERC-20 is USDT on the Ethereum network, and both sides of the transfer must use the same one.
What happens if I send USDT on the wrong network? At best the money gets "stuck" and is hard to recover; at worst it is lost. So agree on the network with the recipient in advance and make a small test transfer first.
Can Tether freeze my USDT? Yes, if the authorities request it ⚖️, including when money from criminals has reached you.
Why is USDT hard to buy on EU exchanges? That is the effect of the EU rules (MiCA) ⚖️; more in the section on the 2025–2026 changes. USDC is offered there more often.
Which is better, USDT or USDC? There is no single "better", since it depends on what you need. USDT is accepted more widely around the world and on more networks, while USDC reports on its reserves more often and stayed on EU exchanges. The table above and the USDC profile show exactly how they differ.
What is USAT? It is a separate dollar stablecoin for the US, issued since January 2026 by the US bank Anchorage Digital with Tether's participation. It is designed for the requirements of the new US stablecoin law (the GENIUS Act) ⚖️, while the familiar USDT remains global and USAT does not replace it24.
