Shares of browser maker Opera rose more than 17% after the opening bell after the company announced that it is expanding support for Tether’s USDT stablecoin and tether gold (XAUT0) in its MiniPay self-custody crypto wallet.
The move provides broader access to dollar- and gold-backed cryptocurrencies for millions of users in emerging markets.
Opera (OPRA) shares fell over the past week to a low of $12.40 before the announcement helped them rise to $14.65. MiniPay, which the company says has 12.6 million activated wallets, will now allow users to use these tokens “without navigating the complexities of the blockchain.”
The wallet, which has more than 3.64 million on-chain users, processed more than $153 million in stablecoin transactions in December alone, according to Opera.
MiniPay is not a financial service itself, but it connects users with on- and out-bound providers like Binance, Partna, and Fonbank, helping to bridge the fiat and crypto economies. Last year, the company launched the “Pay as local” function, which allows users to pay in Argentina using Mercado Pago and in Brazil using Pix, the instant payment systems of each country.
The feature has since been expanded to include instant SEPA payments in Europe and instant bank transfers in Nigeria.
Tether reported earlier this month that it made more than $10 billion in net profits by 2025, driven by the growth of its USDT stablecoin and its underlying US Treasury holdings. The company has been buying up to $1 billion worth of gold a month as it bets on the precious metal alongside BTC.
