Tether has announced a partnership with Anchorage Digital Bank NA, a federally chartered digital asset bank, to launch USAT, a stablecoin designed for the U.S. market. Under the arrangement, Anchorage will oversee issuance, reserve management, and compliance, positioning the project as a blend of crypto-native payment rails and bank-level regulatory supervision.
A U.S.-focused stablecoin strategy
Tether said there are now more than $160 billion in USDT in circulation and that its products serve 500 million users seeking dollar liquidity. USAT is being framed as an effort to bring that scale onto regulated U.S. infrastructure, giving the company a product tailored specifically to the American market.
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said the GENIUS Act established a path for U.S. stablecoin leadership, and described the collaboration with Tether as a “gold standard” model for strengthening the dollar’s role. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Anchorage, which he called the first and only federally regulated crypto bank, will serve as the issuing institution behind USAT. He also described USAT as the first stablecoin created specifically for the United States.
Compliance gains, but questions remain
The partnership directly addresses some of the longstanding concerns surrounding dollar-pegged tokens in the U.S., including who issues them, how reserves are segregated, and what kind of oversight governs operations. By routing issuance through a chartered bank, USAT aims to present a more compliant and institution-friendly model.
Even so, market participants are likely to keep asking how reserves will be managed, how audits and attestations will be handled, and how much disclosure will be provided over time. For now, the pitch is straightforward: Tether contributes scale and distribution, Anchorage contributes a federal charter and compliance structure, and USAT becomes a real-world test of whether bank-issued stablecoins can preserve crypto’s utility while gaining wider acceptance among users and institutions. With the GENIUS Act now shaping the competitive landscape, Tether will also face rivals seeking to launch stablecoins under the same emerging framework.