Tether, Utexo Advance Separate Paths for Tether USDt on Bitcoin

Tether and Utexo are pursuing separate infrastructure efforts to support Tether USDt (USDT) settlements on Bitcoin (BTC), but the available plans do not establish broad consumer availability or a completed launch.

Tether announced in January 2025 that it planned to connect USDT with Bitcoin’s base layer and the Lightning Network through Lightning Labs’ Taproot Assets protocol. The planned system was designed to support faster, lower-cost transactions for remittances, payments and cross-border settlements.

Utexo is developing a separate system that combines Bitcoin, Lightning and RGB. The company announced a $7.5 million seed round in March 2026, co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings and Portal Ventures.

Utexo’s infrastructure is designed to provide application programming interfaces and software development kits for payment operators. Tether’s Wallet Development Kit documentation also lists a publicly released Utexo RGB wallet module, version 2.0.3.

The two projects use different technical approaches. Tether’s announced integration centers on Taproot Assets and Lightning, while Utexo’s system uses RGB alongside Bitcoin and Lightning. The available information does not show that one effort replaced the other or that either has reached wide consumer distribution.

USDT was originally issued on Bitcoin through the Omni Layer before most activity shifted to networks including Ethereum and Tron. The current projects represent separate efforts to support Bitcoin-based settlement for the stablecoin.

The next concrete step is broader integration by wallets, exchanges and payment companies. No confirmed customer launch date or wide consumer availability date has been provided.