Bitcoin Magazine

USDT Returns to Bitcoin: RGB and UTEXO Enable Private Lightning Settlements

Tether, the company behind USDT, is preparing to issue the stablecoin natively on Bitcoin through the RGB protocol version v0.11.1. Deployed by the UTEXO software lab, USDT is set to return to the chain where it first launched in 2014 via the Omni-Mastercoin Layer. 

UTEXO, the company leading the commercial rollout, has positioned itself as the issuer and distributor of this Bitcoin-native USDT in partnership with Tether.  “Finally, after eight years of development—if not more—we are the company that is launching USDT over Bitcoin with strong support from Tether,” said Viktor Ihnatiuk, UTEXO co-founder, in an exclusive interview with Bitcoin Magazine. 

The RGB protocol combines its novel client-side validation with the Lightning network for instant, private settlements, while anchoring security to Bitcoin’s UTXO model. Users can expect to be able to handle USDT on native Bitcoin addresses as well as send and receive it over the Lightning network with compatible wallets. 

The RGB protocol on Bitcoin also offers significant privacy features to USDT users as the asset benefits from Bitcoin’s UTXO model, which standardizes fresh addresses for every transaction compared to the account-based address reused commonly in EVM blockchains like Tron, Ethereum or Solana. Address reuse is the first mistake of onchain privacy, yet most altcoins built their interfaces to reuse addresses, despite the risk it poses to users. RGB’s integration with the Lightning network further protects user privacy by moving USDT via the offchain payments network, which leaves few marks on the public blockchain. The deep integration with Tether also means that there are fewer middleman companies charging extra fees or collecting data. 

On the topic, Vktor emphasized that, “We built Utexo so that USDT could move on Bitcoin the way money is supposed to move: instantly, privately, with no surprises on costs. Our partners integrate our API once and can route USDT on the most resilient open network ever built, with full control over cost structure.”

UTEXO vs TRON

UTEXO emerged from a joint venture involving Viktor’s Boosty Venture Studio, Fulgur Ventures, and Tether Investments. The goal was straightforward: bring RGB to mainnet after years of delays under prior development teams. The protocol had been in active development since at least 2016, but failed to be ready for the 2017 bull market, giving the TRON blockchain dominance over USDT volume and usage throughout the developing world, a dominance which it still retains. 

UTEXO of specifically building “the last mile” of software needed for wide USDT deployment across the Bitcoin ecosystem, which includes a software development kit, APIs, mid-level protocols, UI design work and even a mint bridge that is live today at mint.utexo.com. This bridge lets users move USDT across popular blockchains with “deterministic low fees” and no middlemen thanks to its direct integration with Tether as the primary mint. The RGB protocol layer was developed by Bitfinex R&D Strategist Federico Tenga.

“Right now if you want to swap USDT to Bitcoin you need to pay high fees for all these wallets who charge you a one percent wallet fee plus a swap provider charge of one percent plus, and you have slippage one percent as well, so you pay three percent, and also you wait forever until the swap happens” Viktor told Bitcoin Magazine, adding that; “with USDT and Bitcoin over Lightning, for the first time you have two main assets on one chain, you can swap instantly without any slippage. You can swap decentralized USDT to Bitcoin and back on-chain. The price is almost the same as spot markets in Binance.”

Networks like Tron that are primarily used to move USDT also add extra fees, swap commissions and friction to the user experience. They require a different address type, with fees paid in an asset like TRX, which is only ever used to move the stablecoin. With most of the monetary volume in the crypto market concentrated in Bitcoin and Tether, having to buy an altcoin just to pay fees ends up feeling like red tape. 

Bitcoin, as the payment rails of USDT, also comes with blockchain levels of security that other chains simply can not offer. While USDT will always be fundamentally centralized in Tether as a corporation, the rails can also add risk, for example, if a contentious fork occurs or major bugs are found on novel blockchain systems. Bitcoin, being the oldest and most conservative blockchain, delivers a quality assurance of sorts that can not be matched by other chains. 

RGB traces its roots to Peter Todd’s single-use seals back in 2014 and was formalized in 2016 by Giacomo Zucco and Riccardo Casatta. The RGB acronym, originally derived from “Riccardo Giacomo Bitcoin,” was later rebranded “Really Good Bitcoin”. Tether explored the protocol early but faced delays with the previous team. Had RGB shipped on schedule around 2019, the stablecoin landscape and broader DeFi industry might have developed differently around Bitcoin’s UTXO model instead of Ethereum’s account-based system.

As such, bringing USDT back to Bitcoin is a core motivation for UTEXO. Viktor minced no words on the matter: “For the first time in eight years or nine years, USDT is coming back home. We have no chance to fail. If we fail, no one will think about Bitcoin as a settlement layer anymore.”

USDT on Bitcoin via RGB is expected to be launched within weeks, possibly this July, with wallets like Tether Wallet among others announcing support, and exchanges across the world announcing integrations. 

This post USDT Returns to Bitcoin: RGB and UTEXO Enable Private Lightning Settlements first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

Bitcoin Magazine

UK Sets Landmark Crypto Rules in Race to Become Global Hub

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority published a landmark crypto regulatory framework this week, establishing capital requirements, market abuse controls, and stablecoin standards for the country’s digital asset industry ahead of a mandatory authorization regime that takes effect in October 2027.

The package represents the most expansive expansion of the FCA’s oversight in years. Legislation passed in February 2026 brought cryptoassets within the regulator’s remit for the first time.

The framework covers a wide range of activities: crypto trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers, lending and borrowing providers, staking firms, and certain decentralized finance firms where an identifiable controlling entity exists.

Under the new regime, all regulated crypto firms must meet prudential requirements, including minimum capital buffers and annual stress tests. Unlike banks, which receive specific scenarios from the Bank of England, crypto companies will design their own tests based on internal risk models and submit results to the FCA each year. 

Each firm determines how much risk sits on its balance sheet — a figure that sets the level of capital it must hold.

In other more layman terms, crypto firms operating in the UK must hold capital against their riskiest assets and run annual stress tests of their own design. This is a looser standard than banks face, but a first for the sector.

The framework introduces market abuse rules covering insider trading and market manipulation, areas where the crypto sector has faced scrutiny but limited enforcement action. Large trading platform operators will follow an industry-led monitoring approach, while the scope of mandatory on-chain surveillance has been narrowed from an earlier draft. 

Eligible cryptoassets admitted to UK qualifying trading platforms will face a single 40% net risk position requirement and a 40% counterparty default volatility adjustment — replacing a two-tier classification system proposed during consultation.

Stablecoin and crypto concessions

The FCA made concessions to stablecoin issuers after pushback from the industry. The capital coefficient for stablecoin issuance was cut to 1% of the aggregate value of issued tokens, down from 2% in the original proposal. 

The reduction is designed to keep the UK competitive with the European Union’s MiCA regime and with emerging US stablecoin legislation, both of which are drawing crypto firms to rival jurisdictions.

Stablecoin firms will be allowed to hold a cash surplus of up to 5% inside their backing asset pools to manage liquidity pressures. Redemption forecasting obligations for backing assets were removed, and limited intragroup custody arrangements are permitted subject to additional safeguards.

The FCA’s authorization window

Crypto firms must obtain FCA authorization to operate under the new regime. Existing anti-money laundering registrations will not convert to authorization under the new rules — firms must apply fresh. The application window opens September 30, 2026 and closes February 28, 2027. The FCA will offer pre-application support meetings from July to help firms prepare submissions.

Until the regime takes effect on October 25, 2027, the regulator’s oversight of crypto firms remains limited to financial promotions and anti-money laundering controls.

David Geale, the FCA’s executive director of payments and digital finance, called the framework a milestone. “We’ve created a framework that doesn’t force firms to choose between regulatory certainty and room to innovate,” he said. “For consumers, it means firms will be held to similar standards to other financial providers, though we can’t regulate away risk.”

The framework arrives as the global race to regulate crypto heats up. The EU’s MiCA regime is in force, and the US is pushing through stablecoin legislation under President Donald Trump, whose administration has been a driver of crypto’s legitimization. The UK is positioning its regime as a stable, innovation-friendly alternative for firms weighing where to base their operations.

This post UK Sets Landmark Crypto Rules in Race to Become Global Hub first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.