Tether-backed payments startup Oobit expands into US

Tether-backed mobile payments app Oobit is partnering with Bakkt to launch in the United States on Monday.

The tap-to-pay solution integrates with non-custodial wallets like Base, Binance, MetaMusk, Phantom, and Trust Wallet, enabling users to make purchases from their iOS and Android devices. Merchants receive instant fiat payouts through existing Visa rails.

“Oobit’s launch in the United States marks its most significant global expansion milestone to date and introduces a payment experience Americans have never had until now: real crypto payments from the wallets they already use,” the firm wrote in an announcement.

The move comes months after U.S. legislators passed the GENIUS Act, providing guidelines for stablecoin businesses in the U.S., following encouragement from President Donald Trump. Bo Hines, who served as executive director of Trump’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, was named CEO of Tether’s U.S. unit, working to roll out a GENIUS-compliant USAT stablecoin.

Founded in 2017, Oobit raised a $25 million Series A led by stablecoin giant Tether, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, CMCC Global, and 468 Capital in 2024. The project migrated its rebranded OOB token to Solana from Ethereum last month.

Bakkt (ticker BKKT) will lay the “regulated foundation” for Oobit’s most recent expansion, providing licenses and compliance infrastructure across the U.S., according to the release. As part of its “B2B2C model,” Bakkt acquired money transmitter licenses enabling it to facilitate crypto trading, transfers, and settlement in all 50 U.S. states and operates as a turnkey provider for institutions.

Oobit was part of Tether’s plan to maintain a market presence in the European Union following the rollout of the MiCA regulatory guidelines. Earlier this year, Oobit integrated stablecoins issued by StablR, another Tether-backed project leveraging Tether’s Hadron tokenization platform.

In November, Malaysia-based technology consulting services firm VCI Global (VCIG) announced a $100 million investment in OOB tokens and plans to manage Oobit’s digital treasury, in an arrangement that would make Tether a major stakeholder in VCI, it said at the time.