Stablecoin giant Tether has announced a strategic partnership with Opera to integrate USDT and Tether Gold (XAUT) into the MiniPay wallet. This collaboration specifically targets millions of users in high-growth regions, including Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, aiming to provide a lifeline of financial stability.
Empowering Emerging Markets
MiniPay, a self-custodial wallet integrated into the Opera browser and built on the Celo blockchain, simplifies the entry point into digital finance. Key highlights of the wallet’s reach include:
- Massive User Base: 12.6 million activated wallets across 60 countries.
- Rapid Growth: A 50% increase in users during the final quarter of 2025.
- High Activity: Over $153 million in transaction volume was recorded in December alone.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that the mission is to provide “simple, reliable access to stable value” for those living in regions with limited access to traditional banking or those facing local currency volatility.
A Hedge Against Inflation
Beyond the US-pegged USDT, the inclusion of XAUT (Tether Gold) offers a unique “inflation-resistant” savings tool. This move comes as tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) gain traction; XAUT recently hit an all-time high of $5,600 in late January, mirroring the surge in spot gold markets. With a market cap of $3.4 billion, tokenized gold allows users in mobile-first regions to preserve their wealth without the physical storage hurdles of bullion.
Divergent Market Trends
Interestingly, while adoption in emerging markets is booming, the broader global stablecoin landscape is cooling.
- Market Contraction: According to CryptoQuant, total stablecoin market capitalization began to dip in December, breaking a long-standing growth trend.
- Exchange Outflows: Net inflows of stablecoins to exchanges have vanished. After an initial drop of $9.6 billion, the market saw a further $4 billion in outflows, suggesting a shift from trading activity to private storage or specialized payment use cases like those supported by MiniPay.
