The stablecoin issuer behind USDT, Tether, has spearheaded a strategic funding round to advance Lightning Network–native, stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure, aiming to expand fast, low-cost global transactions.
Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, has led an $8 million investment round in Speed1, Inc., a payments infrastructure startup focused on building Lightning-native, stablecoin settlement rails for global commerce. The funding, also backed by Ego Death Capital, supports Speed1’s mission to scale instant, low-fee transactions that combine Bitcoin’s network advantages with stablecoin price stability.
Speed1 operates products like Speed Wallet and Speed Merchant, serving more than 1.2 million users and enterprise merchants and processing over $1.5 billion in annual payment volume. Its technology stack routes transactions across Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, enabling native settlement in BTC and USDT while maintaining high reliability and global reach.
Strengthening stablecoin payments on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network
According to Tether, this strategic investment aligns with its broader push to embed USDT deeper into Bitcoin-aligned payment infrastructure and expand real-world use cases beyond trading and liquidity provisioning. Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that Speed1’s architecture demonstrates how Lightning combined with a stable digital dollar can reduce friction and support mainstream commercial use.
The funding will help Speed1 enhance its routing logic, compliance-ready features and enterprise-grade reliability, supporting use cases such as cross-border payments, merchant settlement and creator payouts — areas where traditional systems often struggle with high fees and slow settlement.
Tether’s involvement reflects a broader industry trend to develop practical payment rails that leverage blockchain technology without sacrificing stability or regulatory adherence. By advancing Lightning-native stablecoin infrastructure, the investment seeks to bring stable, instant dollar-denominated settlement to global commerce contexts.
