USDT on Ethereum (ERC-20): what a transfer costs right now

What sets the fee on Ethereum

An Ethereum transfer pays for the gas it uses, times the price per unit of gas. That price has two parts: a base fee set by the protocol for each block, which is burned, and a priority fee, a tip to the validator. Gas is paid in ETH, so the dollar cost moves with network demand and with the ETH price.

The gas used is close to constant. On 22 October 2026 a USDT transfer used 46,455 gas to an address that already held USDT and 63,995 to an address that had never held it, because writing a new balance costs more than updating one. We multiply those by the live gas price on every refresh.

The fee is the same for $10 and $10 million: it depends on the work the transfer does, not the amount. Ethereum.org notes that the fee is charged even if the transaction fails.

Not included: exchange withdrawal fees, bridging, conversion spreads and Align's own pricing, which is quoted on request.

How long a transfer takes

New block

Every 12 seconds

Circle credits a USDC deposit after

12 blocks, about 3 minutes

Finalized

About 15 minutes

Ethereum adds a block every 12 seconds, and a block is finalized, meaning it can't be reverted without destroying a large amount of staked ETH, after about 15 minutes, according to ethereum.org. Most services credit deposits earlier: Circle waits 12 blocks, about 3 minutes, for a USDC deposit on Ethereum, and that is the time the tracker shows. Exchanges set their own number.

The USDT contract on Ethereum

0xdAC17F958D2ee523a2206206994597C13D831ec7

Tether lists this as the USD₮ contract on Ethereum. It notes that this contract is based on an older standard whose transfer function doesn't return a true or false value, and asks developers writing their own contracts to use the SafeERC20 library. Source: Tether, Supported protocols and integration guidelines. View it on the block explorer.

Sending USDT on Ethereum to Align

Align accepts USDT on Ethereum. It also accepts USDT on Tron, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism, and lists every network it supports in its docs. Money you receive lands in your balance as USDT, and from there you can send it to wallets or pay out in USD, EUR, GBP or AED from named accounts in your company's name.

Not sure which network to use? See which network to use for USDT and USDC payments.

Common mistakes

• Sending on another EVM network to the same address. An 0x address exists on every EVM network, so a wallet will happily send USDT on Arbitrum, Polygon or BNB Chain to an address the recipient only watches on Ethereum. Check the network as well as the address.
• Mixing up ERC-20 and BEP-20. USDT on BNB Chain (BEP-20) uses the same address format. An exchange that only credits Ethereum deposits may recover the funds for a fee, or may not.
• No ETH for gas. Gas is paid in ETH, so a self-custody wallet needs ETH next to its USDT. The USDT itself can't pay the fee.
• Treating a failed transfer as free. If a transfer runs out of gas or reverts, the gas it used is still charged.
• Integrating USDT like a newer ERC-20 token. USDT's transfer function doesn't return a value. Tether asks developers to use SafeERC20 so that contracts expecting one don't fail.

If a transfer has already gone to the wrong network or address, see what to do if you send USDT or USDC to the wrong network.

Other networks

• USDT on Tron (TRC-20) network fee
• USDT on Solana network fee
• USDC on Base network fee
• Every network side by side, including Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, Avalanche and Aptos

Estimates of network fees for information, not financial advice. Actual fees depend on network load at the moment you send and on the wallet or provider you use.