Tether (USDT) is a [cryptocurrency](https://crypto.com/university/technical-details-crypto-altcoins) pegged to the US dollar. Currently the [most popular stablecoin in the market](https://crypto.com/price/categories/stablecoin?utm_source=crypto.com+price+page&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tether&utm_content=most+popular+stablecoin+in+the+market), USDT is backed 100% by actual assets in the Tether platform’s reserve account. Each unit of USDT has a monetary value of US$1. USDT provides protection from the volatility of cryptocurrencies.
A brief history of Tether
Tether, known initially as Realcoin, was created in July 2014 by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars. It was created as a second-layer cryptocurrency token built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain through the Omni platform. It has since been renamed to USTether and then to USDT. Aside from the Bitcoin blockchain, Tether also works on multiple other [blockchains](https://crypto.com/university/what-is-blockchain-consensus) such as Ethereum, EOS, Tron, Algorand, and [Cronos](https://cronos.org/).
How Tether works
USDT gets its utility from Tether’s guarantee for the token to remain pegged to the US dollar. According to Tether, whenever it issues new USDT tokens, it allocates the same amount of USD to its reserves, thus ensuring that USDT is fully backed by cash and cash equivalents.
What is Tether used for?
As a [stablecoin](https://crypto.com/university/what-are-stablecoins), USDT combines the unrestricted nature of cryptocurrencies — which can be sent between users without a trusted third-party intermediary — with the stable value of the US dollar. Compared to the high volatility in the crypto markets, USDT provides relative stability from these fluctuations, making it a trading option for people who want to preserve the fiat value of their investments from time to time.
