Tether has minted its first batch of USDT stablecoins this year, adding $1 billion to the TRON blockchain.

On Jan. 29, data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence confirmed the transaction, showing that Tether paid no fees for the large-scale mint.

This is unsurprising, considering TRON’s cost-effective blockchain network has made it one of the most attractive options for stablecoin users in emerging markets where Tether’s USDT is predominantly used for savings and cross-border transactions.

Meanwhile, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino clarified that this $1 billion transaction represents an “authorized but not issued” mint. This means the funds will serve as inventory for future issuance and chain swap requests rather than immediate circulation.

Tether’s transparency page shows that this latest issuance pushes the USDT supply to $139.4 billion. Ethereum and Tron account for the majority, with authorized supplies of $76.9 billion and $59.7 billion, respectively.

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