Tether has partnered with Opera to expand support for USDt and Tether Gold (XAU₮) through Opera’s MiniPay wallet, aiming to increase stablecoin access in emerging markets. Opera’s shares rose nearly 18% following the announcement.
Summary
– Tether expanded USDt and XAU₮ support via Opera’s MiniPay to boost stablecoin access in emerging markets.
– MiniPay recorded over 96 million USDt transfers and 3.5 million peer payments in December 2025.
– Opera shares jumped nearly 18% after the news.
Per the Feb. 2 announcement, MiniPay users can now send, receive, and hold USDt and convert part of their balance into XAU₮ to help protect against inflation and currency volatility.
MiniPay is Opera’s self-custodial wallet built on the Celo blockchain and targets mobile-first regions such as Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The wallet reported 50% growth in Q4 2025 and claims availability in 60 countries with 12.6 million activated wallets across Android and iOS.
“Tether’s mission has always been to provide simple, reliable access to stable value for people who need it most,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. “By supporting USDt and XAU₮ in MiniPay, we’re helping create tools that make digital assets genuinely useful, whether for sending money, saving in dollars, or protecting value in gold.”
MiniPay first added USDt in July 2024 as part of the MiniPay V2 update, which introduced Pockets, a stablecoin swap feature using the Mento protocol to swap between cUSD, USDT, and USDC. Demand for USDt has grown since: as of December 2025, MiniPay hosted over 7 million phone-verified USDt wallets. Tether reports MiniPay users processed more than 96 million USDt transfers and 3.5 million peer-to-peer payments in that month alone.
“Millions of users are now holding, sending, and saving in digital dollars seamlessly, often for the first time. MiniPay brings stable, on-chain money to the people who need it most,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera.
In addition to USDt, MiniPay users now have access to Tether’s tokenized gold, XAU₮, which the firms describe as an “inflation-resistant savings option.”
Opera shares climbed as much as 18% intraday, closing Feb. 2 up about 13.5% with an additional 3.55% in after-hours trading. The company has been adding Web3 features to its browser ecosystem, including integrated stablecoin wallets, decentralized application access, and savings tools.
