Bitfinex integrates Tether (USDt) on OMG Network

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has integrated Tether into the OMG Network, a platform that enables peer-to-peer transactions in real-time, in an initiative that enhances the scalability of the Ethereum network.

The integration will prompt a reduction in confirmation times delivering faster payments, with fees also being reduced without compromising security.

“Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of the OMG Network that supports thousands of transactions per second at a third of the cost of the same transaction on Ethereum,” said Vansa Chatikavanij, CEO at OMG Network. “We’re delighted to partner with Bitfinex to address these fundamental issues and drive further growth and adoption of open financial services.”

Users will be able to deposit and withdraw Tethers from the OMG blockchain via the Bitfinex client.

“At Bitfinex we are committed to driving innovation and improvements to our service to better support our customers,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex. “By migrating USDt value transfers to the OMG Network we save costs, drive performance improvements and relieve pressure on the root chain network. This is good for Bitfinex and our customers, and the whole Ethereum ecosystem.”

Transfering USDt as an ERC20 token requires a minimum of 0.001 Ethereum as the miner fee per transaction. Plasma allows numerous transactions to be sent with only one fee.

“This will allow traders to react faster to trading opportunities and take advantage of arbitrage more efficiently between exchanges as the network grows,” said Ardoino.

Ethereum has struggled with mounting transaction fees since its inception. This was highlighted during the ICO boom as investors had to buy and transfer Ethereum in order to buy new projects.

Another time was earlier this year when Ethereum crashed from $240 to $107, with the huge spike in demand resulting in average networking waiting times of up to 44 minutes.

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