Tether
The announcement was made on January 30 at the Plan B conference in San Salvador by Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Lightning Labs’ Stark and business development director Ryan Gentry explained in a blog post that this integration allows merchants to offer USDT payments using the same infrastructure they already use for Bitcoin.
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Stark emphasized the potential reach of the integration, saying, "Millions of people will now be able to use the most open, secure blockchain to send dollars globally".
She also highlighted its importance for people who rely on stablecoins:
This integration also brings Bitcoin to the many users in emerging markets who rely on stablecoins regularly as a hedge against the devaluation of their local currencies and savings.
Lightning Labs pointed out that the update could support future developments, such as transactions between artificial intelligence (AI) systems and autonomous vehicles, while enabling everyday payments using USDT on the Lightning Network.
According to Tether’s statement, the integration was made possible by Lightning Labs using the Taproot Assets protocol. This protocol, introduced in 2022, expanded Bitcoin’s capabilities to support tokenized assets.
The update means that businesses already accepting Bitcoin through the Lightning Network will now have the option to accept USDT as well, without needing additional changes to their systems.
Meanwhile, Developers on the Solana network recently proposed a new system to address scalability issues. What is it? Read the full story.
