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Tether and Opera Partner to scale USDT and Tether Gold support through MiniPay wallet

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Tether and Opera Partner to scale USDT and Tether Gold support through MiniPay wallet

Tether has partnered with Opera MiniPay wallet to expand access for USDt and Tether Gold XAU₮ across emerging markets. Opera shares have rallied nearly 18% since the partnership was announced.

Summary

  • Tether has expanded USDt and XAU₮ support through Opera’s MiniPay wallet to boost stablecoin access in emerging markets.
  • MiniPay has recorded over 96 million USDt transfers and 3.5 million peer payments in December 2025 alone.
  • Opera shares jumped nearly 18% following the announcement.

According to a Feb. 2 announcement, MiniPay wallet users are now able to “send, receive, and hold” USDt while also being able to “convert part of their balance into XAUt0” to protect against inflation and currency volatility.

MiniPay wallet is Opera’s self-custodial wallet that operates on the Celo blockchain and targets users in mobile-first regions like Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where it has recorded 50% growth in Q4 2025 alone, the announcement said.

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MiniPay is available across both Android and iOS and claims to be live in 60 countries with 12.6 million activated wallets.

“Tether’s mission has always been to provide simple, reliable access to stable value for people who need it most,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in an accompanying statement.

“By supporting USDt and XAUt0 in MiniPay, we’re helping create tools that make digital assets genuinely useful, whether for sending money, saving in dollars, or protecting value in gold.”

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MiniPay wallet first added USDt support in July 2024 as a part of the MiniPay V2 update, which introduced Pockets, a stablecoin swap feature powered by the Mento protocol, which allowed users to swap between cUSD, USDT, and USDC using a drag-and-drop motion.

Since then, the wallet has witnessed increased demand for USDt and, as of December 2025, housed more than 7 million phone-verified USDt wallets. According to Tether, MiniPay users processed more than 96 million USDt transfers in December alone, alongside 3.5 million peer-to-peer payments.

“Millions of users are now holding, sending, and saving in digital dollars seamlessly, often for the first time. MiniPay brings stable, on-chain money to the people who need it most,” Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, was quoted as saying.

Now, MiniPay users also have access to Tether tokenized gold XAUT, which will offer an “inflation-resistant savings option,” the announcement said.

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Opera stocks climbed as much as 18% before closing Feb. 2 with gains of a little over 13.5% and another 3.55% in after-market trading.

Over the past years, the company has continued to expand its core web browser offering with several Web3 features that span from integrated stablecoin wallets to access for decentralized applications and savings tools.

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Crypto World

Argentina Blocks Polymarket as Crackdown on Prediction Markets Expands

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Crypto Breaking News

Court Orders Remedial Reflex

In Buenos Aires, a court directed regulators to impose tight controls of access. The telecom regulator ENACOM also liaised with the internet companies to shut down the site. Google and Apple were also asked to take the app out of their stores. The reason why these actions are taken is to restrict access to the users in the country.

This has caused regulators to tighten their belts due to apprehension caused by activity associated with inflation data. It was reported that the platform made predictions of Argentina’s inflation rate in February before it was officially released. Besides, authorities reported that the prediction was altered minutes before publishing. This chain of events triggered the need to further research how the platform functions.

Researchers came to the conclusion that the platform served as a web-based betting platform. Regulators also said it enabled the users to participate in wagering without licenses. Also regulators were worried about access by minors. These results resulted in even tougher steps to be taken against the platform.

Latin America’s Crackdown Continues

The move is in line with other actions taken by Colombia. Polymarket was later blocked in the country due to similar complaints raised against unlicensed gambling services. Therefore, Argentina became the second country to ban the platform in the region. Such a trend underscores the developing regional integration in the area of regulatory enforcement.

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Regulatory examination does not just end at Latin America; it extends to other markets. It has been reported that websites like Kalshi have been involved in court cases in the United States due to allegations of unregulated betting services. It has also been reported that unpaid wagers have been involved in cases of dispute that are associated with geopolitical activities. Regulators and legal authorities have paid more attention to such developments.

Polymarket has also addressed criticism by eliminating some of the markets. Additionally, the site has recently shut down a market for nuclear risk forecasts after being pressured by the publicity. More so, the shutdown was done through the high geopolitical tensions. This is in response to efforts to deal with concerns as the regulatory pressure persists. Argentina has imposed a nationwide ban on Polymarket following the discovery of unlicensed betting operations and a ban on platforms. The relocation is in line with the larger international desire to control prediction market sites and restrict illegal gambling solutions.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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US Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Crack Down on Prediction Markets War Bets

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Law, Congress, United States, Prediction Markets

Two Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress have introduced legislation in response to “government corruption” over bets on prediction markets platforms.

In a Tuesday announcement, Texas Representative Greg Casar and Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said they had introduced the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and ​Federal Functions (BETS OFF) Act after several Polymarket accounts made “highly unusual bets” that a war between the US and Israel against Iran would begin.

Murphy said on March 4 that it was likely that people with “inside information” of US President Donald Trump’s plan to bomb Iran had made the bets.

“We shouldn’t live in a country where someone sitting in the situation room making decisions about whether to invade or to bomb, decisions about war and peace, life and death, that those decisions could be driven by the fact that they have hundreds of thousands of dollars riding on the decision,” said Casar.

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Law, Congress, United States, Prediction Markets
Source: Representative Greg Casar

The bill is the latest twist in US lawmakers’ efforts to crack down on prediction market platforms and accounts allegedly using insider information to profit from government actions. Last week, California Senator Adam Schiff introduced the DEATH BETS Act to prevent prediction markets platforms from listing events contracts related to war, terrorism, assassination and individual deaths.

Related: Arizona AG files charges against Kalshi over ‘illegal gambling‘

Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi offer bets on a variety of outcomes, including sporting events and US politics. However, users betting on the specifics of the US-Israel conflict with Iran have ignited controversy in many areas of government. On Monday, a military correspondent with the Times of Israel said that he had received death threats over his report of the date when an Iranian missile had struck Israel, all “in order to resolve a prediction on Polymarket.”

War-related bets still live on Polymarket

As of Tuesday, Polymarket still offered users the opportunity to place bets on the outcomes of several potential decisions in the US-Israel conflict against Iran, including on whether the US would send ground forces into the country, when a ceasefire might happen, and changes to Iranian leadership.

“The promise of prediction markets is to harness the wisdom of the crowd to create accurate, unbiased forecasts for the most important events to society,” said Polymarket in a note on Middle East markets. “That ability is particularly invaluable in gut-wrenching times like today. After discussing with those directly affected by the attacks, who had dozens of questions, we realized that prediction markets could give them the answers they needed in ways TV news and [X, formerly Twitter] could not.”

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Kalshi, in contrast, offered event contracts related to the Iranian conflict but not on specific military actions, such as if the country might reach a nuclear deal with the US and whether Trump or other elected officials might visit Iran.

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