Tether’s Game-Changer: Stablecoin Swaps gUSDT for USDT0 in Major Mainnet Overhaul

Tether just pulled the trigger on a major infrastructure shift. Its stablecoin is ditching the gUSDT gas token in favor of a new, streamlined USDT0 in a sweeping mainnet upgrade. This isn't a tweak—it's a full-scale architectural pivot aimed at cutting friction and boosting utility across the network.

The Gas Token Shuffle

For users, the switch means simpler transactions. No more juggling between a gas token and the primary stable asset. The upgrade collapses that function into a single, unified token—USDT0. It bypasses previous complexity, aiming to make every interaction, from simple transfers to complex DeFi swaps, more efficient. Think of it as removing a toll booth on a highway.

Why This Matters Beyond Tech

This move signals a push for deeper integration. By streamlining the core gas mechanism, Tether isn't just optimizing for developers; it's laying groundwork for broader adoption. Easier use often translates to more use. It’s a play for dominance in the stablecoin layer—a space where convenience can be as valuable as the peg itself.

The move is classic crypto infrastructure evolution: build, launch, then relentlessly streamline to stay ahead. One cynical observer might note it's also a fantastic way to ensure the network's most essential fee revenue flows through… well, Tether's own token. Because in finance, even revolutions have a billing department.

The upgrade is live. The old gUSDT system is being phased out. For a network handling billions in daily volume, this isn't a minor update—it's a recalibration of its fundamental economic engine.

What is Stable building?      

With this upgrade, Stable aims to eliminate the need for users to wrap or unwrap tokens between different formats, and it wants to achieve this by making USDT0 the native gas asset in place of gUSDT. This will allow Stable to unify fee payment and settlement in a single stablecoin-denominated flow.

Since its mainnet launch on December 8, the network has attracted over $780 million in on-chain value and secured partnerships with a significant number of organizations, including institutional players such as Anchorage Digital, PayPal Ventures, Oobit, and Orbital, among a host of others.

According to the platform’s thesis, “the global economy needs stablecoin-native infrastructure designed for real-world transfers and payments,” and they are out to fill in the shortcomings of existing blockchain rails as it pertains to giving users a better digital payment experience.

Stable’s architecture prioritizes enterprise adoption through features that are low for high-volume users, sub-second block finality via its StableBFT consensus mechanism, and full EVM compatibility. 

The network processes all transactions in USDT, taking away the usual headache that is associated with exposure to volatile gas token price fluctuations. This can complicate treasury operations for payment processors and financial institutions, and Stable has solved for that.

What are the other improvements coming to Stable?

The v1.2.0 upgrade also “adds a protocol-level on-chain signal when an undelegation completes,” as this will enable “applications and indexers to track staking lifecycle completion deterministically through chain data, without relying on polling or inferred state.”

The upgrade will also see fixes in solidity compatibility issues, the introduction of API-managed gas waivers for controlled zero-gas transaction flows, among others.

Stable has recommended that partners “confirm support for USDT0-based gas fee handling across signing, fee estimation, and transaction submission flows.” It also recommends that they  update indexers to listen for the new undelegation completion event signal.

The platform stated last year that it WOULD also be launching StablePay, its consumer-friendly wallet, this year. It also stated that free P2P transfers will be coming at the wallet level. 

Stable plans to scale through ongoing collaborations with enterprises and make it the go-to platform for institutional payment flows.

Competitors, including Circle’s Arc and Stripe’s Tempo, announced plans for enterprise-grade stablecoin payment networks last year, while Plasma, another USDT-focused blockchain backed by Bitfinex and Framework Ventures, launched its mainnet beta in September 2025.

The network raised $28 million in seed funding led by Bitfinex and Hack VC, with advisors including Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether.

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