How to convert USDT to USD and send it to a bank account

The short answer

Send USDT to your Align balance on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum or Optimism, then make a USD payout. The USDT is converted as part of the payment. The dollars go by ACH or Fedwire to a US routing and account number, or by SWIFT to a dollar account at a bank outside the US, and the recipient can be your own company or a supplier.

At a glance

Step by step

1. Request ACH and wire access. It isn't switched on automatically. After Align's KYB review, Align's US banking partner runs a second review, and it can decline or set limits. The KYB guide lists what to prepare.
2. Deposit USDT on a supported network. Use the deposit address for the network the USDT is on now, and send a small test before the full amount. If it has already gone to the wrong network, see what to do next.
3. Enter the recipient's bank details. For ACH or Fedwire: the account holder's name, the routing number and the account number. For SWIFT: the bank's BIC, the account number and the recipient's full name and address. On 27 August 2026, Swift deferred its plan to stop accepting fully unstructured addresses in November 2026 and said it would give an update by December; it still encourages banks to move to structured addresses.
4. Send the payout. The USDT in your balance is converted as part of the USD payment. Choose ACH for routine payments, Fedwire when the money must be final the same day, and SWIFT for a bank outside the US.
5. For a supplier, keep the invoice ready. Third-party payments go through your named virtual account, and Align may ask for the invoice behind the payment. Put the invoice number in the payment reference.

Which network your USDT is on

DefiLlama counted 182.9 billion USDT in circulation on 21 October 2026. Tron carried 92.6 billion and Ethereum 73.0 billion, so a customer paying you in USDT will most likely use one of those two. Solana held 2.7 billion, and Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism under a billion each.

Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism aren't on Tether's own list of supported protocols. On OP Mainnet, USDT0 went live in March 2025: an omnichain version of USDT, fully backed by USDT and managed by Everdawn Labs, not directly by Tether, The Block reported. Before a large deposit on any of these three networks, ask the sender for the token contract and confirm with Align that it accepts that contract. The network guide and the fee tool compare costs.

ACH in practice

FedACH takes Same Day ACH files until 10:30 a.m., 2:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. ET, and Nacha caps a Same Day payment at 1 million USD, rising to 10 million USD on 17 September 2027. Nacha's rules require a next-day credit to be available to the recipient by 9:00 a.m. local time on the settlement date. Same Day ACH reached 435.7 million payments in the second quarter of 2026, up 29.5% on a year earlier, Nacha said.

Two rules matter when you send. The receiving bank may post an ACH credit on the account number alone, even if the name differs, according to The Clearing House's summary of the Nacha rules, so a wrong digit can pay someone else. And since June 2026, Nacha has required every receiving bank to have risk-based processes to spot suspicious credits; a bank that suspects one can delay the funds or return the payment.

USDT and the US rules from 2027

The GENIUS Act is expected to take effect on 18 January 2027. From 18 July 2028, US platforms may offer only stablecoins from permitted issuers or qualifying foreign issuers. Treasury hasn't yet set up the process for deciding which foreign issuers qualify, Freshfields noted in August 2026, so USDT's position isn't settled. Tether launched a separate US stablecoin, USA₮ (USAT), issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, on 27 January 2026. The GENIUS Act guide explains what that means for a non-US company.

Tether's latest quarterly attestation, by BDO and published on 31 July 2026, showed 183.6 billion USD of tokens issued at 30 June 2026. If you convert more than 100,000 USD at a time and can pass Tether's verification, compare a direct redemption at the fees on Tether's fees page with a provider's quote. USDT isn't authorized under MiCA, which matters if you also pay in euros: see USDT to EUR.

How this works with Align

Your company gets named USD accounts: a US account number and routing number through Align's US banking partner, and a named account for SWIFT, with your company shown as the account holder. Money you receive lands in your balance as USDC or USDT until you pay out in USD, EUR or GBP. Align Payments Ltd. is registered with FINTRAC in Canada as a money services business (registration no. N300000203); regulated services are provided through licensed banking partners. Check the prohibited and restricted use list before you apply.

Sources

• Align docs, Blockchains and stablecoins and 1st party and 3rd party payments
• DefiLlama, Tether (21 October 2026)
• Tether, Supported protocols, Fees (October 2026) and Launch of USAT (January 2026)
• Tether, Q2 2026 attestation (July 2026)
• The Block, USDT0 expands across Optimism's Superchain (March 2025)
• Federal Reserve Financial Services, FedACH processing schedule
• Nacha, Same Day ACH limit of $1 million, Increasing the Same Day ACH limit to $10 million, Faster funds availability and Fraud monitoring phase 2
• Nacha, ACH Network results for the second quarter of 2026 (July 2026)
• The Clearing House, Payments Pulse on ACH posting by account number (June 2021)
• Federal Reserve, About the Fedwire Funds Service
• Swift, How long does a Swift payment take? and Swift accepts community request to extend structured address migration (27 August 2026, updated 21 September 2026)
• GovInfo, GENIUS Act text (July 2025)
• ESMA, Interim register of e-money token white papers
• Freshfields, Treasury proposes GENIUS Act gatekeeping rules (August 2026)