Overview
- Tether, which unveiled the feature Wednesday at Bitcoin 2026 in Lugano, now pays out small amounts of Bitcoin over the Lightning Network inside its tether.wallet app.
- Users link a human-readable tether.me username and trigger a payout by replying to Tether’s authenticated social posts that reference @btc.
- Lightning delivers near-instant transfers with very low fees, so new users can try sending and receiving Bitcoin without waiting for on-chain confirmations.
- The faucet sits in a self-custody wallet that also holds USDT and tokenized gold (XAUT), giving first-time Bitcoin users a small balance next to assets they already know.
- Tether has not disclosed payout sizes, anti-abuse rules, or the wider rollout plan, and the move revives a 2010 faucet model as Block’s planned btc.day faucet remains undisclosed.