USDT is issued by the centralized company Tether, and there are currently three different types of USDT on the market. Today, the vernacular blockchain will briefly introduce these three different types of USDT.
Three different types of USDT
The first is the Bitcoin-based USDT (issued based on the Omni protocol). This kind of USDT is stored on the Bitcoin address, so every time you transfer (transfer on the chain), you need to pay a small amount of Bitcoin as a miner’s fee.
In addition to the transfer of bitcoin as a miner fee, every time a USDT transfer is initiated, a very small amount of bitcoin transfer will be generated accordingly. Therefore, every time a bitcoin-based USDT transfer is initiated, there must be at least 0.0002 bitcoins in the wallet address to ensure that the transfer is successful. At the same time, when the recipient receives a USDT transfer, it will also receive a minimum Bitcoin transfer.
The second is based on Ethereum’s USDT (issued based on the ERC-20 protocol). This kind of USDT is stored on the Ethereum address. Correspondingly, every time you transfer (transfer on the chain), you need to consume Gas, which is ETH.
Currently, USDT in the market is mainly concentrated on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The third type of USDT is the USDT issued based on the TRON network (TRON). TRC-20 USDT based on the TRON network is stored in the address of TRON. Deposits and withdrawals are made through the TRON network, and the transfer is free.
Which of the above three USDT transfers is the fastest? Because the TRON network has thousands of TPS, it is currently the fastest to transfer money.
Which USDT transfer is the safest? Some people say that the 27 super nodes of TRON’s DPoS are not as secure as the other two networks, and the most secure is only the Bitcoin network.
Which USDT is better to choose? Bitcoin-based USDT is recommended for large transfers, ERC-20 USDT based on Ethereum is a compromise, and TRON-based USDT can be selected for small transfers, which is faster.
Beware of asset loss when recharging and withdrawing
Bitcoin-based USDT and Ethereum-based USDT are incompatible and cannot be transferred to each other.
So, how do you know which kind of USDT your USDT belongs to?
In fact, it is very simple. You can judge by the stored USDT address: the address starts with “1” and belongs to the USDT based on Bitcoin; the address starts with “0x” and belongs to the USDT based on Ethereum. In other words, Bitcoin-based USDT can only be stored on Bitcoin addresses; Ethereum-based USDT can only be stored on Ethereum addresses.
As for the third type of USDT based on TRON, some trading platforms currently support it, and the address starts with “T”.
▲ Examples of three types of USDT addresses
Regardless of whether it is a transfer, or recharge or withdrawal from the trading platform, it is necessary to pay attention to distinguish the type of USDT to be operated.
summary
There are three types of USDT stablecoins issued by Tether, which are based on Bitcoin, Ethereum and TRON. Based on Bitcoin and Ethereum-based USDT, the two are incompatible and cannot be transferred to each other. You can determine which kind of USDT belongs to from the stored address.