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What is USAT Coin (USAT): Top 5 Ways to Spend It in 2026
USAT is the US-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin developed by Tether and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. Launched on 27 January 2026 and led by CEO Bo Hines, the former executive director of the White House crypto council, it grew more than sixfold in April 2026 alone.
Trading and transfers aside, USAT is trickier to spend. One of the most practical options is travel. USAT holders can book hotels and flights through Epic at prices up to 30% cheaper than Booking.com. New users can also claim $25 off their first booking.
Below, we cover five practical ways to use USAT in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Epic lets you book hotels and flights with USAT and over 200 other cryptocurrencies at prices up to 30% below Booking.com. New users can get $25 off their first booking.
- USAT works as a regulated digital dollar on Ethereum and, since March 2026, on Celo, where holders use it for transfers, settlements, and trading, with every token redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.
- USAT holders can purchase physical collectibles on Polkastarter, from rare trading cards and graded items to sealed products and video games.
- Coinsbee offers USAT holders gift cards, prepaid services and mobile top-ups from over 5,000 brands across 185+ countries.
- CoinTerminal gives USAT holders early access to token sales before they are listed on exchanges, with entry starting from $100.
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What Is USAT Coin (USAT)?
USAT is a dollar-backed stablecoin developed by Tether and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, America's first federally regulated stablecoin issuer. Tether unveiled the project in September 2025, naming Bo Hines as CEO of its new US unit, and the token went live on Ethereum on 27 January 2026.
USAT is an ERC-20 token built to operate under the GENIUS Act, and in March 2026 it expanded to Celo, its first network beyond Ethereum mainnet. Its main roles are payments, settlements, and treasury operations, with each token redeemable for one US dollar.
USAT has no fixed maximum supply, and around 183 million tokens are in circulation. It trades on centralised exchanges such as Kraken, OKX, Bybit, and Crypto.com.
How Does USAT Work?
Every USAT is backed by reserves held in cash and short-term US Treasury instruments, with Cantor Fitzgerald acting as reserve custodian. Anchorage Digital Bank issues and redeems the token under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The reserves are published in regular reports. The first one, attested by Deloitte, showed USAT fully backed with a small surplus as of 31 January 2026.
In practice, holders use USAT as a digital dollar: they send it on Ethereum or Celo, trade it against USDT or US dollars on exchanges, and redeem it 1:1 for cash.
USAT is a good fit if you like to know exactly what's behind your dollars. The reserves sit in cash and short-term Treasuries at Cantor Fitzgerald, and Deloitte checked the very first report. You can send it on Ethereum or Celo, and every token can be redeemed for one US dollar.
1. Book Discounted Hotels and Flights With USAT on Epic
Travel is one of the easiest ways to spend USAT in 2026. Through Epic, holders can book hotels and flights at prices up to 30% cheaper than Booking.com.
Epic gives access to over 2 million hotels and flights around the world. The platform supports more than 200 cryptocurrencies alongside Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Bookings also earn up to 8% cashback in XRP, giving frequent travellers another way to add to their savings.
New users can get $25 off their first booking.
What I like about Epic is that it gives USAT holders something real to spend their dollars on. If you're planning a holiday anyway, you can pay for the flights and the hotel with your USAT for up to 30% less than on Booking.com, and you'll earn XRP cashback on every booking.
Book your next hotel for up to 30% less
2. Buy Physical Collectibles With USAT on Polkastarter
USAT can also be used to buy physical collectibles through Polkastarter. Its marketplace offers rare trading cards, graded collectibles, sealed products and video games, as well as other physical collectibles. After buying an item, collectors can either have the physical product shipped to them or sell it back through the platform.
The marketplace uses USDC as its balance currency, so USAT holders first need to swap their tokens for USDC before topping up their account.
You can check the Polkastarter marketplace to see what's currently available.
This makes sense if you'd like your USAT to become something you can hold. Polkastarter puts rare trading cards, graded collectibles, sealed products and video games together in one marketplace, and once you buy, you can have the collectible shipped or sell it back.
3. Send, Trade and Redeem USAT on Ethereum and Celo
USAT holders mainly use the token as a regulated digital dollar: they send and receive it from their phones, trade it on exchanges, and redeem it 1:1 for US dollars. The USAT website presents it as dollars that move without intermediaries.
On exchanges, USAT trades against both USDT and the US dollar. Kraken, OKX, Bybit, and Crypto.com all listed the token on its launch day in January 2026, and Bo Hines has pointed to creator payouts, settlements, and treasury operations as the uses being built around it.
In March 2026, USAT arrived on Celo, an Ethereum layer-2 network focused on real-world payments, with Google Cloud providing infrastructure support. A month earlier, in February 2026, Tether invested in the online marketplace Whop, with plans to use USAT for faster settlements. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has named Solana as the next network, targeted by the end of 2026.
USAT is a good fit if you want a dollar you can actually move. You can send it from your phone on Ethereum or Celo, trade it against USDT on the big exchanges, and redeem it 1:1 when you need cash. What you get out of it comes down to how often you move money.
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4. Join Early-Stage Token Sales With USAT on CoinTerminal
USAT holders can also use their stablecoins to get into early-stage token sales on CoinTerminal, an open-access launchpad for projects that are not yet listed on exchanges. There are no platform-token staking requirements, and contributions start at $100.
USAT cannot be used directly for contributions, so holders will first need to convert it to the contribution asset each sale requires, such as USDT, on Bybit or OKX. All launches are fully refundable, making the investment risk-free.
Check CoinTerminal to see which token sales are currently open.
CoinTerminal is the one option on this list for getting into early-stage token sales. You can join from $100 without staking or locking up any tokens first, and you're in before the tokens list on exchanges. Contributions are fully refundable too, which makes the investment process risk-free.
5. Buy Gift Cards and Mobile Top-Ups With USAT on Coinsbee
Coinsbee offers USAT holders an easy way to use their crypto for everyday spending. It accepts more than 200 cryptocurrencies and offers digital gift cards, prepaid vouchers and mobile top-ups from over 5,000 brands across 185+ countries.
Since USAT is not available at checkout, holders will first need to convert it to USDT or BTC on an exchange such as OKX. The process is then simple: choose a brand, select the amount, pay with the converted crypto, and the redemption code is sent to your email within minutes. The catalogue also covers many everyday options, from supermarkets and streaming services to travel, food delivery, gaming platforms and mobile carriers.
Have a look through the Coinsbee catalogue to see what is available in your country.
What stands out to me about Coinsbee is how many brands it has. With over 5,000 of them, you'll usually find a gift card for what you need, from supermarkets to gaming, and the code lands in your email. Just check what's available in your country before you pick one.
Sources
- USAT, Official website and overview of the USAT stablecoin ecosystem
- USAT on X, @usat official announcements, news and roadmap updates
- Business Wire, Epic Transitions into the Travel Layer for Crypto, Bringing Real-World Utility to the Web3 Space
- Binance Academy, What Is Epic Chain (EPIC)?
- Uphold, What Is EPIC?
- CoinMarketCap, USAT (USAT) price, market cap and live token data
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Adrian Baschuk is the chief executive officer of Epic. Adrian has spent two decades in media as a producer, journalist, and founder, and has worked in crypto since 2017. He was a founding partner at Crypto Banter, worked on CNBC's Crypto Trader, and has produced and reported for CNN, Current TV, and Discovery.
His television production credits include Disengagement, South Beach Tow, and Kart Life. He became CEO of Epic in 2025 and leads the company's move into travel, building the first travel layer for crypto.
Based in Miami, Adrian earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Tufts University.
Frequently Asked Questions
USAT is Tether's US-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank to operate under the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law signed in July 2025. It launched on Ethereum on 27 January 2026, expanded to Celo in March 2026, and each token is redeemable for one US dollar.
Both come from Tether, but they serve different markets. USAT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank under US federal oversight and built for American users and institutions, while USDT is Tether's global stablecoin, which was not available to US customers. USAT is also far smaller, with about 183 million tokens in circulation.
USAT trades against the US dollar on Kraken and Crypto.com, and against USDT on OKX and Bybit. All four exchanges supported the token from its launch day in January 2026.
Prices cannot be reliably forecast, and this article is not investment guidance. What USAT does have is a fixed target: it is designed to hold at one US dollar and recently traded at about $0.999. Its highest price so far was $1.02 in February 2026, so small moves around the peg do happen.
Yes. USAT holders can book hotels and flights through Epic at rates up to 30% below Booking.com. The platform supports more than 200 cryptocurrencies alongside Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and pays up to 8% cashback in XRP on bookings. New users can also get $25 off their first booking.
Found a hotel you like? Book it for up to 30% less
Found a hotel you like? Book it for up to 30% less
