What Tether’s fee page said on November 8, 2026
How much does it take to hand a dollar coin back to its issuer? For USDT, at least $100,000. Tether’s fee page, read on November 8, 2026, sets that as the minimum for buying or redeeming tokens directly, charges a one-off verification fee of 150 USDT and takes the greater of $1,000 or 0.1% on each redemption.
The arithmetic is worth doing. At the $100,000 minimum, the $1,000 floor works out to 1% of the amount, and the 0.1% rate only becomes the larger figure from $1 million upward. A holder with $5,000 of USDT is below the minimum and has to leave through an exchange or an off-ramp instead, at whatever price the market pays.
The EU rule: at par, free, with a crisis clause
Article 49 of MiCA obliges an e-money token issuer to redeem “at any time and at par value”, in money rather than more e-money, and it bars a fee. The ban has a reservation. It applies “without prejudice to Article 46”, the recovery-plan article, which lists liquidity fees on redemptions, daily limits and suspension among the tools for an issuer in trouble.
Circle’s EU white paper for USDC names the same measures as temporary steps under its recovery plan. Before paying out, its French issuer also runs anti-money-laundering checks, from identity documents and sanctions screening to the holder’s bank details and the transaction in which the coins were acquired.
The US rule from January 18, 2027
The GENIUS Act makes US issuers publish a redemption policy with “clear and conspicuous procedures for timely redemption”, disclose every fee for buying or redeeming coins, and give at least seven days’ notice before changing one. The OCC’s final rule of October 23, 2026, which takes effect on January 18, 2027, puts numbers on those words for the issuers it supervises.
| Point | What the OCC rule says |
|---|---|
| Deadline | Redemption within two business days of the request |
| Minimum | Any amount of one coin or more, after customer screening and onboarding |
| Stress | Requests above 10% of a coin’s outstanding value within 24 hours must be reported to the OCC within 24 hours, and the issuer may ask for more time |
If an issuer fails, section 11 of the Act gives holders’ claims priority over other creditors on the required reserves.
One coin, two rulebooks
The usual mistake is to read “1:1” as free and open to anyone. Circle’s USDC Terms, last updated on October 15, 2026, promise to redeem one USDC for one dollar “less fees where applicable”, and they cover only holders outside the European Economic Area. Holders inside it are sent to the white paper, where MiCA’s fee ban governs.
Where the holder sits decides which document applies. Before counting on a dollar back, the redemption policy and fee schedule for that region are the pages to read.