The plain reply to "How does usdt work?" starts with what a stablecoin promises. USDT, the ticker of the Tether token, is a stablecoin: a crypto token built to hold a steady value equal to one unit of a major traditional currency. Players use it to move money into and out of casinos without the daily price swings of bitcoin. What USDT is, how it works, whether it is safe and how people get it are separate questions, and each has an honest answer with its own limits.
How does USDT work? An issuer, Tether, creates new tokens when clients deposit traditional money and destroys tokens when clients redeem them. The issuer says each token is backed by reserves of cash, short term government debt and other assets, and it publishes periodic reports on them. Redemption at full value is offered mainly to large verified clients; everyone else trades USDT on exchanges at whatever the market pays, which usually sits very close to the peg. The tokens live on public blockchains, so USDT can be sent like any other coin.
What are stablecoins? They are crypto tokens designed to keep a fixed value against an outside asset, usually one unit of a traditional currency. The most widely used stablecoins, USDT and USDC among them, are backed by reserves that a company holds. Others are backed by other crypto locked as collateral, and some, called algorithmic stablecoins, try to hold their value through code alone. Several algorithmic coins have collapsed completely in the past, so the kind of backing tells a reader most of what can go wrong.
Related questions
What are stablecoins and how do they differ?
Crypto tokens built to hold a fixed value against an outside asset; some are backed by reserves, some by locked crypto and some only by code, and the backing sets the risk.
Who publishes reports on USDT reserves?
The issuer publishes periodic reports on the cash, short term government debt and other assets it says back each token; ordinary holders cannot inspect the reserves themselves.
Why are high interest offers on USDT a warning sign?
A stable token earns nothing by itself, so a promise of high interest on it means high risk or, often, a scam.
Can the issuer freeze USDT?
Yes. The issuer can freeze specific addresses, as it has done with funds tied to fraud, and the holder then has no way to move those coins.
What is the difference between USDC and USDT?
Both are reserve backed stablecoins, but different companies issue them, disclose their reserves differently and list them in different places.
How do people usually buy USDT?
Through a regulated exchange that checks identity and takes card or bank payments, or through a person to person deal held in escrow inside an exchange.