The largest dollar token on-chain, backed mainly by US Treasury bills and cash equivalents. Direct redemption is available to verified institutional customers above a minimum size; everyone else exits via secondary markets.
Supply history
Safety score: 77/100 — Adequate
Acceptable for most use cases, but watch collateral quality and liquidity depth.
Full methodology →- Collateral quality & transparency (30%)78
What actually backs the token and how often it is verified. Treasury-backed with daily or on-chain proof scores highest; unattested reserves score lowest.
- Peg stability (25%)88
Live deviation from $1.00 plus the worst historical depeg on record. A single deep depeg keeps weighing on the score.
- Liquidity depth (20%)65
Tracked on-chain pool liquidity in absolute dollars and as a share of circulating supply — how much can exit before the price moves.
- Issuer & legal structure (15%)54
Regulatory status of the issuer and whether holders have a direct redemption right or only a secondary market exit.
- Track record (10%)100
Years in production, minus documented incidents.
Issuer & structure
- Regulatory regime
- VARA-regulated (Dubai)No prudential regimesource
- Issuer
- TetherLEI254900…?
- Jurisdiction
- El Salvador / BVI
- Collateral
- fiat-reserves
- Peg mechanism
- fiat-backed
- Attestation
- quarterly
- Redemption
- gated
- Issuer can freeze balances
- Yes — issuer can freeze balances
- Attestor
- BDO Italia
- Launched
- 2014
- Website
- Official site
Where to get USDT
Every venue that sells Tether, ranked by what a purchase actually costs once fees, spread and the withdrawal to your chain are counted.
Cheapest route: OKX — you receive about $998 of USDT from $1,000 (0.17% all-in, delivered on X Layer).
| Venue | Type | Fee | Spread | Withdrawal | All-in cost | You receive | Verified | Go |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.06% | $0 X Layer | $2 0.17% | $998 | 2026-08-05 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on OKX | |
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.05% | $0 BNB Chain | $2 0.18% | $998 | 2026-08-10 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Binance | |
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.08% | $0 Mantle | $2 0.20% | $998 | 2026-07-30 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Bybit | |
| Exchange | 0.20% | 0.05% | $1 Solana | $3 0.30% | $997 | 2026-08-12 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Kraken | |
| Exchange | 0.30% | 0.10% | $1 Solana | $5 0.45% | $996 | 2026-08-08 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Bitstamp | |
| Exchange | 0.40% | 0.20% | $1 Solana | $7 0.65% | $994 | 2026-08-08 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Gemini | |
| Exchange | 0.60% | 0.50% | $0 Base | $11 1.10% | $989 | 2026-08-12 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Coinbase | |
| Neobank | 1.00% | 0.60% | $1 Polygon | $17 1.65% | $984 | 2026-07-25 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Wirex | |
| On-ramp | 0.99% | 0.90% | direct to wallet | $19 1.89% | $981 | 2026-08-11 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Transak | |
| Neobank | 1.49% | 0.50% | $1 Solana | $20 2.04% | $980 | 2026-08-06 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Revolut | |
| On-ramp | 1.00% + $4 | 1.00% | direct to wallet | $24 2.40% | $976 | 2026-08-11 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on MoonPay | |
| On-ramp | 1.50% | 1.20% | direct to wallet | $27 2.70% | $973 | 2026-07-28 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Banxa |
Estimates built from published fee schedules — the final price is shown at venue checkout. Partner links never change this ranking.
Put it to work
Best rate on USDT from a protocol we would defend: over $100M TVL and more than a year live. Currently maple · Ethereum.
The tradeoff: smart-contract risk on top of issuer risk, and the rate can move any block.
All USDT yieldsAlternatives worth knowing
- Safer siblingUSDG +16 safety score
-2.3pp yield versus USDT, and less depth on some chains.
- Earning siblingUSDC 79.4% APY built in
Safety score 88 vs 77 — the yield is compensation for that gap.
- Cheaper to moveUSDT on Solana cents per transfer
Ethereum transfers of the same token cost dollars. Bridging across costs time, and Solana has thinner venue support.
Spend it
- Plasma One
Advertised up to 10%, paid in XPL
Visit Plasma One - Binance Card
Up to 8% with the largest BNB holdings; ~1% at the base level
Visit Binance Card - Wirex
Up to 8% in WXT, gated behind WXT staking tiers
Visit Wirex - Crypto.com Visa Card
Tiered by CRO stake, from 0% at entry to mid-single digits at the top tiers
Visit Crypto.com Visa Card
Incident history
- 2022-05Terra contagion run−4.8%
- 2023-03Banking stress+0.5%
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