The largest USDT issuer, Tether, announced today the launch of the "tether.wallet" from hosting digital wallets, formally opening its long-established encryption infrastructure to end-users. This product, known as the People's Wallet, marks Tether's further expansion from a base level of mobility provider to an application level.
From bottom infrastructure to end product
Over the past decade or so, Tether has played a very bottom-up role in the encryption market, providing the basis for liquidity, settlement and payment, and stabilizing currency USDT has become the most widely used digital dollar form in the world.
As of March 2026, Tether technology had served more than 570 million users and continued to grow at a rate of tens of millions of new wallets per season. Its network spans over 160 countries and is one of the major infrastructure for global financial flows.
Prior to this, however, most of the systems existed only at the exchange, DeFi or the back end of the payment. As the team.wallet went online, Tether for the first time delivered the funds distribution network directly to users.
Tether.wallet focuses on three core types of assets: the digital dollar (USD, USA), the gold (XAU), and Bitcoin. These assets support multi-block-link networks, including the Ether, Polygon, Arbitrum, etc., while integrating the Bitcoin main network with the Lightning Network.
The main designer of the product is "Simplified as with communications software ". In the past, the transfer of encrypted assets, like entering a long list of bank accounts, could simply disappear if the money is spelled wrong; now it's like sending email, using a good address like "name@tether.me".
At the same time, in the past, the use of block chains required the preparation of an additional currency to be used specifically to pay fees (like a freeway pass-through fee to be paid in another token), but in the other.wallet, users can pay the charges directly from the transferred assets, which is equivalent to simplifying the whole process into two actions: "Take money, transmit."
Self-hosted design: return of asset control to user
In terms of security and control, tether.wallet is based entirely on the self-custodial structure. All transactions are signed locally at the user device, and the private key and assistive words are under the exclusive control of the user.
Tether stated that its core mission had been to promote financial inclusion, particularly for those who were not covered by the traditional financial system, including residents of developing countries and users of high-inflation countries. The size of this population is close to half the global population. “Tether has established the widest financial inclusion case in human history. The next step is to make the infrastructure truly accessible to end-users and to eliminate the complexities that have hindered large-scale adoption in the past.”
He emphasized that the goal was to make value transmission as simple as transmission, without relying on intermediaries or at the expense of asset control.
A payment network for Human Plus Machine Plus AI
This tool is designed to enable humans, machines and even AI agents to create and control their own wallets.
Tether's goal is to make a global, friction-free financial network between billions of humans, machines, and hundreds of AI agents, in exchange for value at near real time. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino locates the team.wallet as People's Wallet.
Technical specifications and scope of support
| Item | Contents |
|---|---|
| Support assets | USDT, XAUT, USAT, Bitcoin (including lightning network) |
| Support block chains | Ether, Polygon, Arbitrum, Tether Plasma. |
| Address Format | @tether.me Username (e. g. username@tether.me), similar to community account |
| Gas Fees | Gasless transfers |
| Organisation | Self-hosted (user-held private key) |
| Development framework | Wallet Development Package based on Open Source (WDK) |
Increased competition for stable currency
The timing of Tether's launch of the consumer purse is a matter of concern. Global stabilization currency regulation is taking shape quickly – the US has issued its first stabilization currency license through GENIUS Act, Hong Kong, and Taiwan’s draft Virtual Asset Services Act. In a tight regulatory environment, Tether moved from a purely stable currency distributor to a wallet product that was directly faced with consumers, probably in order to consolidate its market position in a wave of compliance.
Meanwhile, the tension between traditional financial institutions and stabilizers is on the rise.
Common problems FAQ
What's that?
Tether.wallet is a self-hosted and encrypted currency wallet launched by Tether to support the storage and transfer of USDT, bitcoin, gold tokens (XAUT). Users have their own private key, Tether doesn't take care of the asset.
Is it free?
The wallet itself is free of charge and the transfer is free of Gas fees. However, where cross-chain or specific operations are involved, whether additional costs are subject to official instructions.
What's the difference with MetaMask?
Both of them are self-hosted wallets, but the tther.wallet focuses on the day-to-day payment experience of stabilizing coins and bitcoins, replacing complex wallet addresses with @tether.me usernames and providing free Gas transfer. MetaMask is a universal EVM wallet with a wider functionality but a higher operational threshold.
Which block chains do you support?
There is currently support for Etheleum, Polygon, Arbitrum and Tether Plasma, while the bitcoin component supports both the main chain and Lightning Network. Tether says it will be added to more block chains.