Tether, the issuer of the USD₮ stablecoin, announced the launch of tether.wallet on Tuesday, a self-custodial digital wallet designed to bring the company's financial infrastructure directly to end users.
The new application allows users to manage digital dollars via USD₮ and USA₮, gold via XAU₮, and Bitcoin. It aims to bridge the gap for the billions of people currently excluded from traditional banking systems.
Built on the open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK), the application removes several technical barriers common in blockchain technology. Users can send funds using human-readable identifiers like email addresses, bypassing the need for long, complex wallet addresses.
Simplifying blockchain transactions
The wallet eliminates the need for users to hold separate network or gas tokens. Instead, transaction fees are paid directly in the asset being transferred, reducing friction during the payment process.
All transactions are signed locally on the user's device. This self-custodial design ensures that private keys and recovery phrases remain under the sole control of the user.
“The objective is to remove the complexity that has prevented broader adoption while preserving the properties that make the digital assets technology valuable,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Ardoino noted that the company's technology is already utilized by more than 570 million people globally. He stated that tether.wallet represents an evolution toward a future where humans, machines, and AI agents can transact seamlessly.
At launch, the wallet supports USD₮ on Ethereum, Polygon, Plasma, and Arbitrum. It also supports XAU₮ on Ethereum, Polygon, and Plasma, alongside Bitcoin on-chain and via the Lightning Network.
Tether plans to add several more blockchains to the application following this initial release.
