Tether Minted $1B in USDT Stablecoins on the Tron Network and Paid No Fees

The Tron network's comparatively low fees have made the blockchain ecosystem attractive for stablecoin firms and ideal for recipients in developing countries.

Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has minted another batch of 1 billion fully backed USD₮ stablecoins on the Tron network, paying zero fees for the large transaction, data from onchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows.

The analytics platform highlighted the Nov. 14 transaction from a “black hole address” on Tron to Tether’s multisignature wallet beginning with the characters “TBPxh.”

Onchain records also show that almost immediately after the 1 billion USDT was sent to Tether’s multisignature wallet, the funds were transferred to the stablecoin firm’s treasury, and this transaction likewise featured zero fees.

Tether minted 1 billion USDT with no network fees. Source: Arkham Intelligence

The Tron network’s comparatively low fees have made the blockchain ecosystem attractive for stablecoin firms and ideal for recipients in developing countries where excessive network fees can significantly erode the value of a payment or remittance.

Relative to the size of the network, the Tron blockchain generates a substantial amount of revenue from network fees, largely thanks to the high volume of stablecoin activity.

During Q3 2024, Tron network fees amounted to an impressive $577 million, up 26% from the previous quarter. Network fees are used to pay Tron network validators and are distributed to TRX holders who stake their tokens.

Tron network fees (dotted line) and revenue (solid line). Source: DappRadar

Tron became the blockchain with the second-largest market share of stablecoins in August 2024. At the time, Tron had 37.9% of the total stablecoin market share and the Ethereum network had an impressive 55.7% share of issued stablecoins.

During that same month, Tether minted an additional 1 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain. Following the stablecoin mint, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino explained that the additional USDT was to “replenish” the supply and clarified that the tokens were authorized but not yet issued.

These authorized-but-not-issued USDT tokens remain in the company’s inventory until a new issuance request is made and the tokens are issued to trade on the open market.

Digital asset traders use the supply of stablecoins as a proxy to gauge market sentiment and the level of interest from investors. If the level of newly minted stablecoins rises, this is a bullish sign that traders are speculating on price movements. In contrast, a reduced supply would indicate lower interest and lower market activity.

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