Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, said it has completed a strategic investment in interoperability protocol developer LayerZero Labs. The company said the deal is aimed at supporting the development of efficient and secure cross-chain technology, though it did not disclose the size of the investment.
The relationship already has a live product component. LayerZero Labs’ cross-chain messaging protocol, integrated through Everdawn Labs, has been used to build USDT0, an omnichain version of USDT designed to extend the stablecoin to blockchains where native USDT has not yet been issued.
USDT0 has moved more than $70 billion across chains
According to Tether, USDT0 is minted using LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard and remains backed 1:1 with USDT. Since its launch in early 2025, USDT0 has processed more than $70 billion in cross-chain value transfers.
That figure shows the partnership is already tied to production use rather than a limited infrastructure experiment. For a stablecoin issuer, cross-chain reach and consistency of backing are central to how widely the asset can circulate across different networks.
Ardoino links interoperability with future financial rails
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement that LayerZero’s interoperability technology allows digital assets to move instantly across any transport layer and distributed ledger. He described that capability as not just a technical advance, but a core piece of infrastructure for the future of finance.
Tether also pointed to potential use in AI. The company said LayerZero’s protocol could become a key tool for AI agents, allowing them to operate wallets autonomously and transact with stablecoins and digital assets at scale. The announcement, though, centered on cross-chain settlement and infrastructure expansion.