Stablecoin giant Tether announces new U.S. token

What they're saying: "We want to make sure U.S. businesses can engage in a new and emerging economy and actually understand the space," Hines, named in August as Tether's strategic advisor for the U.S., said at the announcement event in New York Friday.

• "We want to dominate, but we want to dominate for the U.S."
• The new U.S. effort will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hines has made two unsuccessful bids for Congress from the state.
• Tether is based in El Salvador.

Context: Stablecoins are digital assets that are backed by highly-liquid dollar-denominated assets (usually short-term U.S. treasuries), so that they can retain a one-to-one exchange rate with a national currency (in most cases, the U.S. dollar).

• For its part, Tether promises to always redeem one stablecoin for one dollar.
• Stablecoins have become the first killer app of blockchains, allowing people around the world to have access to the dollar and also providing institutional users a faster, cheaper way to transact globally.

How it works: Anchorage Digital, a federally licensed crypto bank, will serve as the issuer. Cantor Fitzgerald will serve as the custodian of its reserves, according to the announcement.

• Previously, Tether had told Axios about some possibilities it was considering for a payment stablecoin in the U.S.

What's next: The team said at the press conference that USAT aims to launch by the end of the year.

• No word yet on how big the market cap for the token will be at the beginning.
• Tether's main stablecoin, USDT, represents $169 billion worth of dollar deposits. That's more than twice the size of its largest competitor, Circle's USDC, which has $72 billion.