USDT досяг 500 млн користувачів: що це насправді означає для людей без доступу до банківських послуг

Tether just dropped a number that sounds insane on paper—500 million people now use USDT. That’s roughly 6.25% of Earth’s population holding dollar-pegged stablecoins in their pocket. CEO Paolo Ardoino called it “likely the biggest financial inclusion achievement in history,” and honestly? The data backs him up.

The Scale is Actually Staggering

Here’s what makes this matter: the World Bank estimates 1.4 billion adults still lack bank accounts. That’s people in countries with 30%+ inflation, unstable currencies, or governments that can freeze your money. For them, USDT isn’t speculation—it’s survival.

Tether clarified this counts real individuals, not just wallet addresses. That distinction matters. These aren’t traders playing leverage games; they’re people in Kenya, Argentina, Venezuela, Turkey using a US dollar equivalent to keep their savings from evaporating overnight.

Kenya Case Study: $USDT for Business

In Kenya, where the shilling has been weakening, 37% of USDT holders use it as a store of value. But here’s where it gets practical—small importers are now settling international transactions in USDT instead of waiting for sluggish wire transfers. Lower fees, faster clearance, fewer currency conversion losses.

A shoe importer in Nairobi? Used to eat 5-8% in FX spreads and bank fees. Now they settle suppliers in USDT with basically zero slippage. That margin difference? It’s the difference between surviving or closing shop during economic downturns.

The Competitive Moat

Market cap: $182.4 billion. Stablecoin market share: 58.4%. USDC (the competitor everyone mentions) is sitting at $76.8 billion. That 2x+ gap isn’t just about first-mover advantage—it’s about liquidity depth, adoption in emerging markets, and the fact that Tether actually focused on unbanked populations instead of just chasing DeFi traders.

Tether’s apparently raising $20B at a potential $500B valuation. That would put it in the company of mega-cap fintech companies. Wild, considering most people still think of it as just “a crypto thing.”

Where This Goes

The real test isn’t hitting 500M users. It’s keeping them. Can USDT actually become the de facto stable currency for remittances, cross-border trade, and everyday savings in emerging markets? If they can build regulatory trust (the boring but critical part), the runway is massive.

For context: traditional remittances cost 7% on average. If USDT captures even 20% of that market, we’re talking about tens of billions in economic value that wasn’t there before.

The milestone sounds abstract until you realize it means half a billion people now have an alternative to watching their life savings get hollowed out by inflation or political risk. That’s not hype. That’s infrastructure.