Tether co-founder Reeve Collins is backing a new stablecoin project that will introduce competition to the market he once helped pioneer. Collins, who previously served as Tether’s first CEO from 2013 to 2015, is now chairing Pi Protocol, a decentralized initiative set to launch on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains in the second half of the year. The protocol will allow users to mint a new stablecoin, USP, in exchange for the yield-bearing USI token, with backing from bonds and other real-world assets. While the name suggests it will be pegged to the U.S. dollar, details regarding the exact fiat representation remain undisclosed.
Pi Protocol is entering an increasingly competitive stablecoin sector with major players such as Tether’s USDT, Circle’s USDC, Ethena’s USDe, and Dai. According to DeFiLlama, the market for stablecoins has surpassed $225 billion, with USDT dominating over 63% of the market. USDC’s growth has recently outpaced Tether, and USDe has overtaken Dai to become the third-largest stable asset by market capitalization. Collins had previously hinted at a stablecoin that would offer yield, stating that interest-bearing assets could attract more investors looking to earn returns on their holdings.
Stablecoins play a critical role in the cryptocurrency market by providing liquidity and transactional efficiency when trading digital assets. They have also become an increasingly popular choice for cross-border remittances, offering lower costs and faster transactions compared to traditional financial systems. A recent ARK Invest report highlighted that stablecoin transactions reached a value of $15.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing both Visa and Mastercard in total volume.
Collins, alongside Brock Pierce and Craig Sellars, originally developed Tether in 2014 before selling it to the operators of crypto exchange Bitfinex the following year. Since then, Tether’s USDT has grown from a market value of less than $1 billion to approximately $142 billion. With the launch of Pi Protocol, Collins is once again entering the stablecoin space, this time with a focus on decentralized finance and yield generation.
No financial details regarding the launch of Pi Protocol have been disclosed, but the project positions itself as an alternative to the dominant stablecoin providers. The use of smart contracts to facilitate the minting process and the integration of real-world assets for backing differentiates it from traditional stablecoins. With increasing competition in the sector, Pi Protocol will need to carve out a space in a market that is already seeing rapid shifts in dominance among key players.
