By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 26th, 2024
The integration of Tether USDT represents a major milestone for the NEAR protocol, even as it continues to expand its DeFi presence and target Web3.
The issuer of the USDT stablecoin Tether has once again shown its commitment to being a major force in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi). This follows after Tether USDT went live on yet another blockchain network – the NEAR protocol. As it stands, the integration on the NEAR protocol, which is a smart contract-based blockchain platform designed for decentralized applications (dApps), is its 12th integration across various blockchain networks. Although only eleven of those are currently available for Tether USDT. They include Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Algorand, Kusama, Omni, Tron, EOS, Liquid Network, and of course, Standard Ledger Protocol.
NEAR Protocol Aims to Sustain Growth Momentum by Adopting Tether USDT
Interestingly, the integration of Tether USDT could not have come at a better time for the NEAR protocol. According to Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether, “the NEAR ecosystem has witnessed historical growth this year and we believe Tether will be essential in helping it continue to thrive.”
To corroborate the above statement, the NEAR protocol also recently shared a feat on its Twitter page, claiming it is now home to over 700 projects. And as of July, the protocol was averaging between 300,000 to 400,000 daily transactions.
Again, the Near Foundation announced a day ago that it was launching a $100 million venture capital fund. The foundation teamed up with startup investment firm Caerus in its bid to target Web3 development.
According to the firm’s statement which was issued via the CEO of NEAR Foundation Marieke Flament:
“We champion initiatives that can bring greater stability to the DeFi ecosystem and help us advance the mass adoption of Web3.”
Meanwhile, per Tether’s Transparency page, the total amount of USDT currently in circulation is around $67.7 billion. And as of press time, Tron and Ethereum networks hold a combined 96% of Tether USDT in circulation. Tron has the highest, with $33 billion worth of USDT running on its blockchain. Whereas, Ethereum has about $32.3 billion USDT circulating on its network.
Notably, the integration of Tether USDT represents a major milestone for NEAR protocol. This is even as it continually strives to expand its foothold across DeFi ecosystems.
