Utexo Raises $7.5M Led by Tether to Launch Native USDT Settlements on Bitcoin

Startup Utexo, which develops infrastructure for stablecoin settlements directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, has announced raising $7.5M in a seed round. The round was co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings, and Portal Ventures, with participation from investors such as Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures, Alchemy VC, Ethereal Ventures, Auros Ventures, Arcanum Capital, Paper Ventures, Axia8, FlowTraders, Plan B, Gate Ventures, Sats Ventures, as well as strategic angels from Ledger, Hyperion, BTC Turk, Echo, Legion, and SOLV.

This investment is aimed at launching native USDT settlements directly on Bitcoin, including the Lightning Network. Utexo provides production-ready infrastructure that abstracts the complexity of the Lightning Network and RGB protocol, allowing payment operators, exchanges, wallets, high-frequency trading firms, and platforms to route USDT transactions instantly, privately, and with fixed, predictable costs paid in USDT, regardless of network conditions. Transactions settle atomically in less than 1 second, anchored to Bitcoin's security, with encrypted on-chain records to prevent disclosure of payment flows and counterparty wallet addresses. This avoids fee volatility, congestion risks, or weaker trust assumptions from public ledgers, bridges, or wrapped assets.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, noted:

"Bitcoin has always been central to Tether's long-term vision for USDT. Market cycles come and go, but the need for open and resilient settlement infrastructure remains constant. What's been missing is production-ready infrastructure that makes stablecoin settlements on Bitcoin viable at scale. Utexo provides that layer. By enabling native USDT settlements directly on Bitcoin and Lightning Network with predictable costs and seamless integration, this strengthens Bitcoin's position as a global rail for real-dollar transactions."

Utexo co-founder Chris Hutchinson added:

"We built Utexo so USDT can move on Bitcoin the way money should move: instantly, privately, with no surprises on costs. Utexo combines Bitcoin, Lightning, and RGB into a useful payments stack. Our partners integrate our API once and can route USDT natively on the most resilient open network ever built, with full control over fee structures."

Victor Ignatyuk, another co-founder of Utexo, emphasized:

"For the first time, wallets will be able to offer their users free USDT transactions. Utexo provides a built-in growth flywheel: wallets grow their user base while USDT bootstraps adoption on Bitcoin. The divorce between the two most important digital assets is finally over. After more than a decade, we're bringing USDT home."

Utexo's go-to-market strategy focuses on integrating with existing USDT flows for merchant settlements, payouts, cross-border transfers, and global commerce, rather than bootstrapping new L2 solutions. This move by Tether underscores efforts to strengthen USDT's connection to Bitcoin, potentially making Bitcoin the primary layer for global dollar payments, with fixed fees and privacy.

On X, the news spread quickly, with posts highlighting the use of Lightning Network for fast payments and the irreversibility of settlements on Bitcoin. This could signal a "stablecoin supercycle," as noted by some analysts.