Just two days following its unveiling at the Token2049 event in Dubai, Tether's partnership with the TON Foundation has swiftly yielded $60 million worth of USDT issued on The Open Network (TON). This development positions Tether as the 11th-largest blockchain for the stablecoin out of a total of 16.

The announcement of this collaboration, made on April 19 during the Token2049 crypto conference, marked the commencement of Tether's minting operations on TON. Notably, Tether has also introduced the gold-pegged Tether Gold (XAUT) stablecoin on the TON blockchain.

The Open Network team has emphasized the benefits of TON, highlighting its capability to facilitate instant, free, and user-friendly cross-border payments, akin to sending a text message to Telegram's vast user base of 900 million individuals.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, expressed satisfaction with the initial progress, noting that $35 million USDT was initially issued on TON. However, as per the latest Tether Transparency report, the authorized supply on TON has since surged to $60 million by April 21, 11:30 pm UTC.

The collaboration enables Telegram users to seamlessly conduct transfers among all platform users, obviating the need for complex blockchain addresses or the download of additional applications.

USDT on TON will feature fully integrated on-ramps supporting various fiat currencies globally at launch, with plans underway to incorporate global off-ramps, facilitating direct withdrawals to bank accounts or cards.

Despite Tether's significant presence on the Tron network, where $57.8 billion USDT circulates, the deployment of USDT on diverse blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and others, aims to alleviate the congestion and high network fees observed on Ethereum. Ethereum currently hosts $51 billion USDT in circulation.

Tether commands a dominant market share of 69% of the stablecoin market capitalization, estimated at around $159.5 billion, as per CoinGecko data. Its primary competitor, Circle, accounts for a 21% share with its USD Coin (USDC), boasting a circulation of $33.7 billion.

The announcement prompted a 22% spike in Toncoin (TON) prices, though the asset quickly reverted to previous levels. At the time of writing, Toncoin is trading down 1.6% on the day at $6.13, according to CoinGecko.