Tether just put on a suit

For a decade, Tether (USD₮) was the “offshore casino chip,” massive, liquid, but operating in the regulatory shadows. Wall Street ignored it; regulators hunted it.But on January 27, 2026, Tether launched USA₮, a federally chartered stablecoin backed 1:1 by short-term Treasuries, held at Anchorage Digital Bank, and custody by Cantor Fitzgerald.The Fed didn’t lose control. It delegated it. Now $186.2B in private-sector dollars can settle 24/7 across blockchains without touching the Federal Reserve’s ledger.The collateral hierarchy just got disrupted by the very person who would have fought it hardest: a regulator.

By Marc Baumann, Sangam Bharti2 min read

For a decade, Tether (USD₮) was the “offshore casino chip,” massive, liquid, but operating in the regulatory shadows. Wall Street ignored it; regulators hunted it.

But on January 27, 2026, Tether launched USA₮, a federally chartered stablecoin backed 1:1 by short-term Treasuries, held at Anchorage Digital Bank, and custody by Cantor Fitzgerald.

The Fed didn’t lose control. It delegated it. Now $186.2B in private-sector dollars can settle 24/7 across blockchains without touching the Federal Reserve’s ledger.

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