Tether launches "Tether.wallet" (Bitcoin/Lightning/USDT)

[OmegaStarScream]

Tether has just announced the launch of their non-custodial wallet[1][2]. The wallet supports bitcoin onchain and lightning, and USDT on multiple blockchains. The app is built using Tether's Wallet Developement Kit[3].

[1] https://wallet.tether.io/
[2] https://x.com/tetherwallet/status/2044032340016480262
[3] https://docs.wallet.tether.io/

[SFR10]

Tether has just announced the launch of their non-custodial wallet[1][2]. The wallet supports bitcoin onchain and lightning, and USDT on multiple blockchains. The app is built using Tether's Wallet Developement Kit[3].

I still haven't downloaded it, but I have a feeling there are going to be some issues with similar-looking usernames ^{[e.g., those who intentionally create them in the hope that another user shares them by mistake]}. In addition to that, I didn't like seeing the optional Cloud Backup route ^{[regardless of storing the encrypted data and encryption key in separate places]}.

[rat03gopoh]

I'm curious about their network fee solution. They say the wallet supports multiple chains and a portion of the network fee will be deducted from the funds sent^(*). I know of other wallets that offer gas-free exchanges, but that doesn't cover all networks.

*) https://wallet.tether.io/faq/#faq-fees

[OcTradism]

I'm curious about their network fee solution. They say the wallet supports multiple chains and a portion of the network fee will be deducted from the funds sent^(*). I know of other wallets that offer gas-free exchanges, but that doesn't cover all networks.

*) https://wallet.tether.io/faq/#faq-fees

Wallets support on chain transaction fees for users, it's my first time knowing about it.

Wallet companies usually have less revenue than centralized exchanges and even centralized exchanges don't waive on chain transaction fees for users. Exceptions are only when they need to advertise their own chains and native currencies on that chains like Binance did waived transaction fees on BSC for a while but eventually they changed their policy and charge withdrawal fee on BSC.

A famous exchange FTX waived withdrawal fees on Ethereum chain in the last market cycle, that is a stupid policy, and together with other bad managements, their exchange bankrupted.

[Charles-Tim]

This is just another close wallet that I can not use.

Just 5 downloads on Playstore since since 5 days ago that it was listed on Playstore. I may still test the wallet but not being open source discouraged me already.

If there are more downloads, I will test it, but I can not use it.

[Lucius]

Is it just me who finds it strange that a company that can freeze any of its tokens, regardless of where they are located, is launching a wallet like this? Besides, if you have a wallet that supports LN and on-chain BTC, why would you use stablecoin at all?

[promise444c5]

Well, they have some unique features unlike others of the same type, that’s still something.

Self-custodial by design
Your wallet, your keys. Back up your 12 words offline or save an encrypted copy to cloud storage. Total control, and the easiest way to send assets borderless.

What the hell?
They recommend saving an encrypted copy of your wallet backup to cloud storage.

Don’t  be surprised , they are not the first to do that.. Trust wallet own by Binance also  have same and even Ledger has something similar   so it’s a family thing.

So far people still prefer conveniency, they will use it  nmw, just like we have users and subscribers for the last 2  I mentioned.. at least it’s encrypted  .
I had to quote you here since this is the first thread.

[un_rank]

This is just another close wallet that I can not use.
...

I would expect nothing less from a platform like Tether which censors transactions and runs on centralization.

With the way they have been launching new projects they probably want to transition into a crypto franchise working on mining and now wallets, it will not be a shock to me if they launch an exchange soon.

- Jay -

[Cookdata]

I downloaded the wallet and there is something strange.  

When you click "Create a New Wallet", this is what you get



They request for email. First red flag.

Out of curiosity, I did set up one email, I was sent OTP and wallet was created with backup strongly recommending Icloud back up. Second red flag.



The worst part.
I log out and tried to "login to an existing wallet", my email was requested, I inserted the email and OTP was sent, input it and wallet login. I gained access to the wallet without recovery phrase.

If your email is compromised, your asset is gone.

This is not self custody, don't use.

[retreat]

I was just looking at their website and I saw something that caught my attention. Well, it's from a centralized company like Tether, so this is to be expected.

This will just be another wallet that I will avoid using. Nothing special. And it's not trustworthy.

[Charles-Tim]

This is not self custody, don't use.

This looks just like Blockchain.com wallet which is a very good example of a wallet that I can not recommend anyone to use. They will say it is noncustodial but you will be able to have access to the wallet using email and password. So how come that is possible? Do they mean it is a brain wallet? Which I can not also recommend.

[Ambatman]

I really don't understand why anybody would want to use such wallet
Imagine a non custodial wallet created by a centralized money
That follows freezing customers funds.

What's new or so incredible that anybody would leave proven and trust worthy wallets they have been using before.


Despite the claim of it been open sourced and non custodial
I will take it as a grain of salt.

[joniboini]

Imagine a non custodial wallet created by a centralized money
That follows freezing customers funds.

Looks like people will be able to store their own seed phrase if I'm reading this correctly. But you have to register with an email even to make one. I guess the target audience is someone too lazy to secure their seed phrase. They encrypt that seed phrase with an encryption generated on your device and store the encrypted data on their server, CMIIW. If you want self-custody, just run Electrum to generate the seed phrases.

[bitbollo]

I have just downloaded and I am willing to make a try on their new wallet...
I am very curious also to understand what is the real difference (if any?) offered between this and aqua wallet.
Jan3 / Samson Mow has already proposed the same kind of products a couple of years ago.
Even if they are not the same company its interesting to see the same product/category, there is a real advantage on running these wallets (like getting fees for liquidity, transactions etc?)

[ABCbits]

After reading people's comment and finding, i feel it's weird Tether create their poor wallet app. Few months ago, they bothered to create few open source apps (some of them not related with their stablecoin).

I was just looking at their website and I saw something that caught my attention. Well, it's from a centralized company like Tether, so this is to be expected.

This will just be another wallet that I will avoid using. Nothing special. And it's not trustworthy.

If you scroll up, you would find something that more concerning.

I refer to the fact they may collect "unencrypted cryptographic seed material". So i decided to archive their privacy policy page on https://web.archive.org/web/20260415082316/https://wallet.tether.io/application-privacy/, in case they update it later.

[Yamane_Keto]

It's more like a centralized account, with the company disclaiming regarding account security.

they used readable form, meaning it can be stored on their end in an encrypted form.

Nothing leaves your phone without your explicit approval, and sensitive information, such as your recovery phrase, is never shared with our servers in a readable form
This phrase is created on your device and is never sent to Tether in a readable form. No one at Tether can look it up, reset it, or recover it for you.

this part is far from a crypto wallet, what them mean by deleting your account

If you want to delete your Tether Wallet account, go to Settings > Security > Delete Account.

After submitting, you will receive a confirmation email with a secure link. Clicking that link confirms your request, and your account will be deactivated. All associated personal data will be removed, subject to any legal retention requirements.

Note that this action is permanent; once done, you will need to create a new account to use Tether Wallet.

How can permanently delete account and still access to wallet seed?

[BlackHatCoiner]

So they decided to launch their own wallet and not depend on third party wallets. It is a good initiative. It has a slim and minimalist user interface. No addresses shown, as far as I can see, just usernames. Even the dumbest person could use it.

I am reading their XAUT gold stablecoin is held in vaults in Switzerland. Interesting. I like how they give you three options, with no shitcoins included. Just dollars, bitcoin and gold. Use whatever it fits you.

[Dogedegen]

I downloaded the wallet and there is something strange.  

When you click "Create a New Wallet", this is what you get

They request for email. First red flag.

Out of curiosity, I did set up one email, I was sent OTP and wallet was created with backup strongly recommending Icloud back up. Second red flag.

The worst part.
I log out and tried to "login to an existing wallet", my email was requested, I inserted the email and OTP was sent, input it and wallet login. I gained access to the wallet without recovery phrase.

If your email is compromised, your asset is gone.

This is not self custody, don't use.

I think you guys do not have information or experience in the altcoin world. Yes this is not good in terms of the usual standards for Bitcoin wallets, but you seem surprised like something is new when this is nothing new. Many wallets in the altcoin space have added this kind of option in the recent years and it has been seen as a great solution for inexperienced users that reduces the friction for getting involved in the crypto space. Tether did not do anything new here, they just followed the current practices from the shitcoin space to develop and release a very simplified wallet. Yes we can scrutinize various aspects and ideas about it but we should not act as if it is something new and wrong has been done here.

So they decided to launch their own wallet and not depend on third party wallets. It is a good initiative. It has a slim and minimalist user interface. No addresses shown, as far as I can see, just usernames. Even the dumbest person could use it.

I am reading their XAUT gold stablecoin is held in vaults in Switzerland. Interesting. I like how they give you three options, with no shitcoins included. Just dollars, bitcoin and gold. Use whatever it fits you.

Yeah it is for a specific type of customer, and people need to evaluate it in regards to what it is supposed to do. This is not a wallet for a Electrum user or someone who knows how to use Lightning in self custody. This is for the kind of people that do not have any idea about any of these things and who couldn't even learn Electrum if you tried teaching it to them! We can analyze and criticize individual aspects and stuff from the terms such as what the user Yamane_Keto wrote, but we need to keep in mind who is the target audience of this wallet. If we don't do that when we do criticism, you could criticize Electrum even for not being technical enough or for being too technical depending on who you are.   Anyway, this wallet is not for me. I am happy with what I have.

I'm curious about their network fee solution. They say the wallet supports multiple chains and a portion of the network fee will be deducted from the funds sent^(*). I know of other wallets that offer gas-free exchanges, but that doesn't cover all networks.

*) https://wallet.tether.io/faq/#faq-fees

Wallets support on chain transaction fees for users, it's my first time knowing about it.

I have no idea what you guys are saying here because all multi blockchain wallets work this way and have worked for years. Most of them do not have any fees, they deduct network fees when sending transaction as if sending from a single blockchain wallet. There is no difference.

[rat03gopoh]

I have no idea what you guys are saying here because all multi blockchain wallets work this way and have worked for years. Most of them do not have any fees, they deduct network fees when sending transaction as if sending from a single blockchain wallet. There is no difference.

Is there a claim that their wallet also supports L1 coins including all USDT protocols, like most non-custodial wallets? https://tether.to/en/supported-protocols. I only see this claim on their website.

Digital Dollars, Bitcoin, Gold:
The essentials, made effortless
One wallet for the digital tokens people actually trust:
USD₮, USA₮, XAU₮, and Bitcoin, with the complexity handled for you.

However, on-chain fees must be covered with the native coin of one of the parties. It's clear that Tether will handle that on the backend. The problem is, if their system stops working to cover on-chain fees for technical reasons, how are you supposed to send tokens?
Of course, you can restore your wallet in another app, but that's neither practical nor secure.

[Dogedegen]

I have no idea what you guys are saying here because all multi blockchain wallets work this way and have worked for years. Most of them do not have any fees, they deduct network fees when sending transaction as if sending from a single blockchain wallet. There is no difference.

Is there a claim that their wallet also supports L1 coins including all USDT protocols, like most non-custodial wallets? https://tether.to/en/supported-protocols. I only see this claim on their website.

I did not claim that this is a wallet that supports various L1 coins. I said that it works similar to how these wallets operate, if they are custodial or not does not make any difference in regards to how the fees are subtracted. They are subtracted the same way, and in the example that you give the difference is only between backend and API. Even a self-custody mobile wallet has to fetch the fee rates from somewhere or you are in the dark, and some didn't even have setting the fees manually until a few years ago. They only figured out that it can be used as a solution in case the APIs fail temporarily, giving the users the option to do it manually but it was not always like this.

However, on-chain fees must be covered with the native coin of one of the parties. It's clear that Tether will handle that on the backend. The problem is, if their system stops working to cover on-chain fees for technical reasons, how are you supposed to send tokens?
Of course, you can restore your wallet in another app, but that's neither practical nor secure.

Many of the non-custodial wallets use all sorts of APIs and also connections to their nodes at times to broadcast your transactions. If these don't work temporarily then you won't be able to send anything from those wallets. So how is this any different it is just another system of the same thing? Any technical issues that are that big happen rarely and when they do they are usually lifted quite fast. I've had issues with Bitcoin desktop wallets in the past to where they at times were not able to get information about the fee rates or to fetch USD prices so I had to do some more things manually. These things can happen in any wallet that uses stuff like APIs or connection to third parties like their nodes. It can't only happen for the same reasons if you use everything yourself like with a Bitcoin Core full node, but in that cases fee estimations and transaction creation can fail for other reasons that are not relevant here.