Utexo plans to launch USDT on Bitcoin in October, with three main services focused on private transfers, direct BTC-to-USDT swaps and Bitcoin-backed loans.
The company says the first mainnet launch will use Bitcoin, with support for the Lightning Network planned for a later stage.
Utexo has secured a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin and use the Tether trademark for distribution through exchanges, wallets and payment providers, according to co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk.
The company plans to provide the software, developer tools and cloud infrastructure that businesses need to offer Bitcoin-based USDT services.
Using the RGB protocol, Utexo wants users to transfer USDT while keeping most payment information outside Bitcoin’s public transaction record. Ownership of the tokens is linked to Bitcoin’s unspent transaction outputs.
The planned services include private USDT transfers, direct swaps between native BTC and USDT, and loans backed by native Bitcoin.
For the lending service, users would not need to wrap their Bitcoin into another token or move it to another blockchain before using it as collateral.
Utexo says more than 450 businesses, including exchanges and wallet providers, have shown interest in its technology. The company is also reportedly speaking with larger financial institutions, although no specific partnerships have been confirmed.
Utexo’s privacy system would also include restrictions on certain transaction outputs. According to Ihnatiuk, the company plans to maintain a list of outputs connected to sanctioned or illegal activity and share that information with exchanges and other service providers.
The system would work differently from freezing an Ethereum address. Because RGB assets are linked to Bitcoin transaction outputs, Utexo says it would not be able to freeze them in the same way Tether can freeze tokens on Ethereum.
Instead, flagged outputs could become unusable for redemption through bridges or minting services, or for withdrawals onto networks such as Ethereum or Tron.
Utexo’s Bitcoin plans already have backing from Tether. In March, the company raised $7.5 million in a funding round co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings and Portal Ventures.
Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures, Auros Ventures and Flow Traders were also named among the investors.
Utexo said its infrastructure is designed for payment providers, exchanges, wallets and trading firms, with potential uses including merchant payments, payouts and cross-border transfers.
Tether has been working on bringing USDT back to Bitcoin through RGB as well. In 2025, the company announced plans to use RGB for native Bitcoin-based USDT, allowing users to keep Bitcoin and USDT in the same wallet.
Tether has described the RGB version as private and lightweight, with support for sending and receiving value even in offline situations.
Tether previously issued USDT on Bitcoin through the Omni layer, beginning in 2014. In 2023, the company stopped minting USDT on Omni, along with several other legacy networks.
In 2025, Tether updated its transition plan for those networks, saying it would stop direct issuance and redemption while allowing existing tokens to continue moving between wallets.
Utexo’s planned October launch would therefore bring a new Bitcoin-based USDT infrastructure to the market, while Tether continues to develop its broader stablecoin strategy across different blockchain networks.
