As the stablecoin wars continue to heat up, Bitfinex is looking to bring USDT to more blockchains, announcing earlier today that it will launch its stablecoin on EOS’s blockchain. Currently, Tether is issued on the Omni Layer, Ethereum, and TRON. In the next couple of weeks, the company is also planning to issue USDT on Blockstream’s federated sidechain Liquid.
But chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino told The Block that the firm has ambitions to bring the stablecoin to other blockchains, saying that it will launch the coin on Lightning Network sometime this year. As part of those efforts, Bitfinex has joined a group of developers and companies called RGB, which is working to put more assets on the Lightning Network.
Lightning Network is a layer-two protocol that aims to enable quicker and cheaper bitcoin transactions.
“I think that is one of the coolest things we could ever being [sic] involved with,” Ardoino said in an email to The Block.
“We really love LN (I personally do a lot) so we want to make sure we learn and contribute to it with our resources,” he added.
Bitfinex has long had intentions to launch of Lightning Network, according to a company update dated September 2017. Implementing tether on Lightning Network could possibly improve the speed of transacting with the coin, the firm has said.
“We are excited to announce the initial discovery and integration discussion with the Lightning Network team for low-cost, instant transactions of Tether currencies on the Lightning Network,” according to the update.
Tether would be the first mainstream asset to be issued on the Lightning Network, which could help the second layer protocol in furthering its adoption. Tether’s competitors, USD Coin, TrueUSD, PAX, Gemini dollar are all issued exclusively on Ethereum.
Bitfinex and Tether, its affiliated firm that manages its stablecoin USDT, has been embroiled in a dispute with the New York Attorney General’s office over the co-mingling of funds. Still, its market capitalization, which took a beating after the NYAG imbroglio, has recouped its losses, hitting a new high above $3.1 billion.
Tether isn’t alone is hitting new highs. Elsewhere, PAX has picked up slightly under $70 million in additional market cap over the last month. Meanwhile, USDC has increased by $100 million over the same time period.