Tether has decided to shut down its yuan stablecoin CNHT following China's regulatory pressures. We are now tracking this process, which they started in February. They plan to halt production and complete withdrawals within a year. Honestly, this coin has never gained much traction—only 20 million tokens in circulation, with a market value of $3 million. Tether itself has acknowledged that there is no demand and that it’s not worth the effort to continue.

Interestingly, Tether’s other products are much stronger. USDT still stands at around $189 billion, controlling over 59% of the stablecoin market. It’s far ahead of USDC—Circle’s coin remains around $77 billion. But the most notable is the rapid growth of gold-backed XAUT. It has doubled by 2025, now valued at $2.6 billion. As gold prices rise, the strength of this token also increases.

So, China’s tough stance against yuan stablecoins has affected Tether, but USDT and XAUT still lead the market. Tether’s failure with the yuan shows that focusing on dollar- and commodity-backed products is more sensible. What do you think—is Tether’s strategy the right one?