USDT on 12 Networks: The Optimum Rescan (2026)

Three days ago we quoted every USDT network we could reach and called the list complete at eleven. It wasn't. The catalog now serves twelve USDT assets, and the newcomer is usdt-op - Tether on Optimism. When a stablecoin's network list grows, every conclusion drawn from the old list ages a little: fixed deductions, ceilings and route counts are all per-network numbers. So we re-quoted all twelve in a single sitting, re-fitted the cost model, and checked whether the optimum changed. (XMR to USDT exit)

Twelve networks, one sitting

All quotes below were pulled between 14:02 and 14:11 UTC on 2026-11-11, one network at a time from the same live quote API the order form uses, with spot references at XMR $583.78, BTC $73,739 and USDT $0.9992 (CoinGecko, 14:01 UTC). Anything you read here is a snapshot - live rates on the order page are the authority. (XMR to USDT exit)

The $100 table: nine lines, one cluster

At 100 USDT into XMR, the twelve networks return: Aptos 0.15928543, BSC 0.15921146, TON 0.15914640, Polygon 0.15912985, Arbitrum 0.15904260, AssetHub 0.15898030, Base 0.15884642, Solana 0.15868643, Ethereum 0.15867566, Optimism 0.15667453, Avalanche C-Chain 0.15189992, TRC20 0.15064956. Best to worst spans 5.7% - but that headline number is mostly bookkeeping, not routing. (SOL to XMR guide)

Fitting the cost line

Using the 1,000 and 5,000 USDT quotes on the main group, the fitted slope is 0.00168976 XMR per USDT - an implied 591.78 USDT per XMR against a $583.78 spot. At 1,000 USDT the seven main-group quotes run 1.689189-1.689728 XMR, a 0.032% spread worth about $0.29 per order; at 5,000 the seven tighten to a 0.006% spread. The residual gap between TRC20 and the main line is 0.000539 XMR at 1,000 (about $0.29) and 0.046135 XMR at 5,000 (about $27.30) - a fixed cost, not a rate difference. So we read each 100-quote against that line instead. (XMR to USDT exit)

Nine routes, about $6 each

Subtracting each 100-quote from the fitted line, nine of the twelve networks carry a fixed deduction between $5.73 and $6.10: Aptos $5.73, BSC $5.78, TON $5.82, Polygon $5.83, Arbitrum $5.88, AssetHub $5.92, Base $5.99, Solana $6.09, Ethereum $6.10. That is why the raw table clusters: on Aptos you keep $94.27 of your $100, on Ethereum $93.90. TRC20 ($10.85) and Avalanche C-Chain ($10.11) sit about $4-5 higher - two $100 orders on TRC20 versus Aptos differ by a full 1.35 XMR-equivalent percent in your pocket. Optimism lands in between at $7.28. (SOL to XMR guide)

Optimism: a corridor with a low ceiling

The newcomer behaves like no other USDT route. Fitting its own 1,000 and 2,000 quotes (1.66648351 and 3.34397919 XMR) gives a slope of 0.00167750 XMR per USDT - implied 596.13 USDT per XMR, 0.74% worse than the main group's line. Its residual at 100 is about $6.60, so a small Optimism order is roughly a dollar cheaper than Ethereum and roughly $4.20 cheaper than TRC20. But the boundary probe kills the enthusiasm: an above-maximum error reveals min 14.613671 / max 2108.50836 USDT. Optimism is a small-order corridor, full stop. It also behaves differently backwards and forwards, which we come to below. (XMR to USDT exit)

The boundary table

Probing each network with an amount of 0.5 (the API returns the real min/max in the error body, free of charge) gives: Ethereum 13.717448-161,181.29; Solana 13.494388-160,957.66; Arbitrum 13.415122-160,967.20; BSC 13.34091994-161,180.94; Polygon 13.344578-83,962.38; TRC20 18.674658-161,185.77; TON 13.371516-70,081.56; Avalanche 17.790612-3,372.76; Optimism 14.613671-2,108.51; Base 13.601748-706.41; Aptos 13.277283-704.81; AssetHub 13.297386-704.87. The max/min ratio is 228.7 to 1 - and note that TRC20's floor, 18.67, sits about $5 above every other network's, so the cheapest-looking corridor rejects the smallest orders. (SOL to XMR guide)

The reverse leg: where the newcomers price worst

Exiting XMR into USDT inverts the picture. One XMR against the six main routes returns 579.403-579.719 USDT (a 0.05% band); against the four locked newcomers it returns TON 571.334548, Base 570.907457, Aptos 571.415478, AssetHub 570.295549 and Optimism 568.714234 - that last one a full 1.90% below the main line. Every newcomer is single-route with a locked quote and validUntil set; every main route is two routes floating with validUntil null. If your exit corridor is Optimism, you pay the worst exit rate in the whole USDT family, and you pay it on both legs of a round trip. (XMR to USDT exit)

Round trip and the deposit-side truth

Multiply the two lines and the plateau round trip costs about 2.04% (0.00168976 x 579.719 = 0.9796). But the quote-side bill is not the whole bill. Sending USDT into the swap costs real money per network: on TRON, 2026-11-09 block receipts showed 64,285 energy for a recipient with an existing balance and 130,285 when the receiving address's USDT slot flips from zero - at current energy pricing that is 6.4285 or 13.0285 TRX, $2.04 or $4.13 at TRX $0.3169, plus 0.345 TRX bandwidth. On Optimism, 63,197 gas at the 14:01 UTC gas price of 0.000000000001012084 ETH per gas (1.012084 gwei) costs about 0.000000064 ETH - a rounding error under a hundredth of a cent at ETH $2,057.57. The deposit side can be nearly free (Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, BSC, Solana at roughly half a cent to thirteen cents) or a few dollars (TRON). That asymmetry is the real reason TRC20 still loses at $100 even though its slope is fine: you pay twice, once in the quote and once in the energy. (SOL to XMR guide)

The optimum, restated

After the rescan the recommendation splits by amount rather than by brand. Around $100, any of the nine main-group networks costs you about $6 in fixed deduction; picking among them is style, not arithmetic. Below the main group's comfort zone, Optimism is the only route whose fixed deduction undercuts Ethereum - but its 2,108 USDT ceiling caps it there, and its reverse leg is the family's worst. Above roughly $700, Base, Aptos and AssetHub reject the order entirely and Polygon, TON and Avalanche stair-step out soon after; only the five routes with ~161,000 caps (plus Optimism's 2,108) absorb five-figure sums. And TRC20 keeps its odd double identity: the cheapest slope at scale, the most expensive small order, and the only floor above $18. (XMR to USDT exit)

Boundary and snapshot

Everything above is a snapshot of 2026-11-11, 14:02-14:11 UTC: twelve USDT networks where nine cluster within about $0.40 of fixed deduction, a fitted main slope of 0.00168976 XMR per USDT (implied $591.78 per XMR against a $583.78 spot), a 5.7% raw spread at $100 driven by two outlier routes, a new Optimism corridor priced at $6.60 fixed with a 2,108 USDT ceiling and the family's worst reverse leg at -1.90%, a 228.7-to-1 spread between the largest and smallest ceilings, and a reverse main group floating in a 0.05% band. The durable rules: match the network to the order size and to the address format you will actually type; treat a single snapshot of one route as marketing, not data; and remember the deposit-side fee is a second, separate bill. Rates, boundaries and route counts all move - the live order page is the authority. (XMR to USDT exit)