Tether, the issuer of stablecoins, has confirmed to CryptoSlate its expansion of US dollar-backed USDT and gold-backed XAUT stablecoins onto The Open Network (TON) blockchain, as stated in an April 19 announcement. This move is aimed at improving the use of stablecoins for cross-border and peer-to-peer transactions among the 900 million users of the TON-related Telegram messaging application.

According to the company, this integration is expected to increase activity and liquidity on TON, making it easier for developers and users across various use cases to access capital. It also provides benefits for users by enabling them to hold and transfer USDt with their TON wallet.

Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, expressed support for this initiative, stating that it aligns with their goal of promoting open financial infrastructure across the blockchain industry.

TON has emerged as one of the rapidly growing decentralized layer-1 blockchains, thanks to its association with the crypto-friendly messaging platform Telegram. Its native token, Toncoin, has experienced significant growth, rising approximately 135% over the past year to become one of the top 10 digital assets by market capitalization.

Tether's integration with TON follows a substantial increase in USDT stablecoin minting to meet current market demands. According to Blockchain analyst Lookonchain, Tether has minted a significant $10 billion USDT since March 1. Additionally, recent data from Whale Alert shows an additional $1 billion USDT minted from Tether's Treasury today, bringing the total minted since March 1 to $11 billion.

Ardoino explained that the main objective of this minting was to bolster reserves in anticipation of rising demand for the stablecoin. He clarified that while most minted tokens are authorized, they are not immediately issued but are kept in Tether's Treasury until demand necessitates their circulation.

Tether is the largest stablecoin in the crypto market and is available across 15 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Tron, Solana, among others. According to the firm's transparency page, the stablecoin has a circulating supply of approximately $109.5 billion and a total supply of approximately $114 billion.