Tether, the world’s leading stablecoin issuer, has announced the expansion of USDT and Tether Gold support within MiniPay, Opera’s self-custodial wallet built on the Celo blockchain.
The move is expected to strengthen access to stable, dollar-denominated value and savings for millions of users across emerging markets, reinforcing Tether’s role in advancing global financial inclusion through practical blockchain-based payment solutions.
USDT remains the most widely used and trusted digital dollar globally, with a market capitalisation exceeding $186 billion. Through its integration into MiniPay, users can now send, receive, and hold USDT with a simple tap, without needing to navigate complex blockchain interfaces. This streamlined experience is designed to make stablecoin usage more accessible to everyday users, particularly in mobile-first regions where demand for reliable digital value continues to rise.
Opera’s MiniPay wallet has rapidly become one of the largest self-custodial stablecoin wallets globally. It currently reports over 12.6 million activated wallets, more than 350 million transactions, and an estimated 3.64 million on-chain users on Celo. In Q4 2025 alone, MiniPay recorded 50% growth in on-chain users, highlighting accelerating stablecoin adoption across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
As of December 2025, MiniPay had reached 7 million phone-verified USDT wallets and saw approximately 300,000 unique buyers of USDT in December alone, representing a 33% month-on-month increase. During the same period, Celo emerged as the fastest-growing native USDT chain, with user growth of 506% over the past 12 months, rising from 825,000 to 5 million users. MiniPay users initiated more than $96 million in USDT stablecoin transfers in December 2025, along with over 3.5 million peer-to-peer payments, demonstrating an increasing reliance on stablecoins for everyday transactions.
MiniPay users have also added more than $49 million USD in cash into their wallets through local partners, including Fonbank, Partna, Daimo, Cashramp, Binance, and Bybit. These integrations enable users to bridge local currencies into USDT and access Tether’s global liquidity network more easily. Across all supported integrations, more than $153 million USD was sent or received through MiniPay in December, underscoring the growing demand for stable, dollar-based digital payments in mobile-first economies.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said the expansion aligns with the company’s long-standing mission of providing reliable access to stable value for people who need it most. “By supporting USDT and XAU₮0 in MiniPay, we’re helping create tools that make digital assets genuinely useful, whether for sending money, saving in dollars, or protecting value in gold,” Ardoino said. He emphasised that financial inclusion is not only about technology, but about building systems that work for real-life needs.
Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, said integrating USDT directly into MiniPay transforms smartphone access into meaningful financial access. “Millions of users are now holding, sending, and saving in digital dollars seamlessly, often for the first time,” he said. “MiniPay brings stable, on-chain money to the people who need it most.”
In addition to USDT, MiniPay now supports Tether Gold, through its support for XAU₮0, a token representing ownership of physical gold. With gold prices rising nearly 50% in 2025, XAU₮0 is positioned as an accessible, inflation-resistant savings option for households seeking protection against currency volatility. Users can convert part of their wallet balance into XAU₮0 with a single tap, maintaining liquidity while preserving value.
Tether Gold remains one of the most established tokenised real-world assets in the digital economy, offering a transparent on-chain bridge between traditional stores of value and modern blockchain-based financial systems. Its integration into MiniPay expands the use cases for tokenised assets, giving users more flexibility in how they save and manage wealth.
Tether’s continued commitment to transparency, liquidity, and accessibility is driving further real-world adoption of stablecoins. Through its partnership with Opera, the company is helping build practical financial tools that allow users to move money, save securely, and store value more efficiently. The expansion of USDT and Tether Gold support within MiniPay represents another step toward bringing stable digital money to millions of people outside the traditional banking system.
