The issuer of stablecoin Tether will discontinue its Bitcoin Omni Layer model, citing an absence of curiosity from customers. This Bitcoin model of Tether (USDT) was one of many first stablecoins ever created. The Bitcoin Money (BCH) and Kusama (KSM) variations may even be discontinued, in keeping with an Aug. 17 announcement from the group.
Right this moment #Tether pronounces the ending of the assist of three blockchains $USDt: OmniLayer, BCH-SLP and Kusama.
Clients will be capable of proceed to redeem and swap $USDt tokens (to a different of the numerous supported blockchains), however Tether will not difficulty any new further $USDt on these 3… https://t.co/aghLgqtSuO— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) August 17, 2023
In line with the announcement, no new Tether tokens might be issued on the Bitcoin Omni Layer, Kusama or Bitcoin Money going ahead. Redemptions will stay out there for not less than a yr, and the corporate will difficulty additional bulletins earlier than the yr passes as to the way it will deal with redemptions after that time.
The Bitcoin Omni Layer is a great contract system constructed on high of the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. Initially known as “Mastercoin,” it was launched in July 2013, a full two years earlier than Ethereum. Omni Layer Tether turned the primary stablecoin to be launched on the system in October 2014. It rapidly grew to be the best market cap stablecoin, surpassing earlier stablecoins resembling BitUSD and NuBits.
In its Aug. 17 announcement, Tether sought to acknowledge the essential historic position that Omni Layer Tether performed in crypto historical past, stating:
“We perceive the importance of this determination, significantly for Omni, because it was the primary transport layer that Tether utilized in 2014. The Omni Layer, constructed on high of Bitcoin, performed a vital position in Tether’s early journey, and we acknowledge the contributions and improvements the group has made to the crypto panorama.”
Associated: PayPal’s stablecoin opens door for crypto adoption in conventional finance
Nevertheless, the group acknowledged that the Omni Layer “confronted challenges because of the lack of common tokens and the supply of USDT on different blockchains.” This led exchanges to make use of different transport layers as a substitute of Omni, which in flip led to a decline in USDT Omni utilization and compelled the corporate to finish its issuance.
Tether claimed that it will contemplate reissuing the Omni Layer model if utilization of Omni picks up. The corporate additionally acknowledged that it’s engaged on a brand new Bitcoin sensible contract system known as “RGB” and that it plans to reissue Tether in an RGB model as soon as it’s accomplished, bringing Tether again to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Competitors between stablecoins has been heating up in 2023, difficult Tether’s dominance. PayPal launched its PayPal USD (PYUSD) on Aug. 7, and Binance listed First Digital USD (FDUSD) on July 26.
