What is Tether?
Tether (#USDT ) is a digital currency with a value intended to reflect the US dollar. Launched in 2014, the idea behind Tether was to create a stable cryptocurrency or "stablecoin" that can be used as digital dollars. Tethers are anchored or "tied" to the price of the US dollar.
While Tether initially used the Omni Layer of the Bitcoin network as a transport protocol, it is now available as an ERC20 token on Ethereum. In summary, Tether is issued on the blockchains of Bitcoin (Omni and Liquid Protocol), Ethereum, EOS, and Tron.
Tether tokens are issued by Tether Limited, which shares a CEO with the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. Tether had previously claimed that Tether coins were 100% backed by Tether's reserves, but after Tether's lawyers noted in 2019 that there was only 74% backing of Tether, or a fractional reserve, Tether clarified that the definition of full backing included loans to affiliated companies.