Tether (USDT) is a cryptocurrency pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar, which people use as a stable store of value instead of using digital currencies with more volatile prices like Bitcoin.
Each Tether token is backed by a $1 pledge from its eponymous parent company. When the exchange rate with the US dollar fluctuates, the parent company keeps its value relatively stable by issuing additional currency or destroying it.
There are several types of USDTs issued by Tether, two common ones:
Bitcoin-based USDT
These USDT tokens are based on the Bitcoin network's Omni protocol and receive the same address as the main Bitcoin address, with transfer transactions costing Bitcoin as a miner's fee.
Ether-based USDT
These USDT tokens are based on the ERC-20 standard of the Ethernet network, and the payout address is the same as the Ethernet address.