Opera shares jump 18% after MiniPay adds Tether’s USDT stablecoin

Tether has expanded support for its USDT stablecoin inside Opera’s MiniPay crypto wallet, a move aimed at making dollar-denominated payments and savings easier to access across emerging markets.

MiniPay, Opera's self-custodial wallet built on the Celo blockchain, now supports both USDT and Tether Gold, allowing users to hold and transfer dollar- and gold-pegged tokens from their smartphones, giving users a way to send and receive digital dollars without needing separate crypto apps.

The wallet is embedded within Opera’s mobile browser ecosystem and has gained traction across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where access to traditional banking services can be limited or expensive.

Opera (NASDAQ: OPRA) shares climbed as high as $14.75 on Monday, up nearly 18% following the announcement.

In Monday's press release, Opera says MiniPay has recorded more than 12 million activated wallets and hundreds of millions of transactions to date. The company reported roughly 7 million phone-verified USDT wallets and over 3 million peer-to-peer USDT payments in December alone.

MiniPay integrates several local payment partners and exchanges to help users move money in and out of the wallet. Opera says more than $150 million was sent or received through MiniPay in December.

The wallet also supports Tether Gold, a token backed by physical gold, which users can convert directly inside the app. Tether has promoted gold-linked tokens as a savings alternative in markets facing currency depreciation.

The expansion comes just days after Tether reported more than $10 billion in net profit for 2025, with USDT circulation reaching roughly $186 billion backed largely by U.S. Treasuries and other reserve assets, according to its latest attestation.