Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) co-led a $7.5 million seed round in Utexo to enable native USDT settlement on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Lightning Network as CEO Paolo Ardoino said “Bitcoin has always been central to Tether’s long-term vision for USDT.”

The $7.5M Utexo Investment

Tether co-led the round with Big Brain Holdings and Portal Ventures. Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures. Other investors also participated. 

USDT has a supply of $184 billion, making it the world’s most popular dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Utexo’s technology allows USDT transactions to be settled directly on the Bitcoin network, including the first-ever availability of USDT over the Lightning Network. 

Payments carry fixed fees that are revealed beforehand with settlement costs paid in USDT.

Ardoino emphasized the infrastructure gap: “What has been missing is production-ready infrastructure that makes Bitcoin-native stablecoin settlement viable at scale. Utexo provides that layer.”

Payment operators can route USDT settlement directly over Bitcoin-native rails without managing underlying technical trade-offs, rewriting user experiences, or changing custody and compliance workflows. 

Transactions settle atomically and privately in under 1 second, anchored to Bitcoin’s security model.

The Free Transaction Claim

Utexo co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk said wallets will be able to offer users free USDT transactions for the first time. 

“Utexo provides a built-in growth flywheel: wallets grow their user base, while USDT bootstraps adoption on Bitcoin. After more than a decade, we’re bringing USDT back home.”

Tether’s Investment Strategy

Tether’s investment arm has become a prolific investor across industries. The firm focuses on companies that provide technology supporting or bolstering its stablecoin business.

Last month, Tether invested in LayerZero Labs, which owns tech being used to create USDT0, the omnichain version of USDT. 

Earlier this week, Tether invested in sleep-technology startup Eight Sleep at a $1.5 billion valuation.

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