Tether has launched a new developer grants program to fund projects that build local-first AI and payment tools on its open tech stack. The company announced the initiative on May 11, saying there is no fixed cap on total grant payouts. Instead, Tether will tie funding to specific technical deliverables for each task or project.
The program is already live, and developers can apply for active tasks through Tether’s website. Each grant will focus on concrete engineering goals, such as improving privacy-preserving AI or building robust payment infrastructure that works without central servers. Tether says it wants to support tools that ordinary people can run on personal devices, not just in data centers.
Focus on Local-First AI
The funding focuses on “local-first” AI, where models and agents run directly on users’ devices rather than in the cloud. Tether has announced the open-source QVAC SDK, a toolbox for building on-device AI agents that can work offline and sync peer-to-peer as needed. Those new awards will help grow that ecosystem with more apps, integrations and developer tools.
According to Tether, local-first AI can improve privacy because user data does not need to leave the device for basic processing. The framework also supports hybrid setups where devices can talk to external AI vendors while still keeping some tasks local. Tether has said it plans to commit “substantial resources” to these technologies over the coming years, including work on robotics and even brain computer interface use cases.
Payments and Real-World Infrastructure
The grants program also targets payment tools that make digital assets easier to use in daily life. Tether has invested in companies like Ark Labs, which builds programmable payments and stablecoin settlement on the Bitcoin network, and Axiym, which develops distributed treasury and settlement systems across 140 countries and 70 currencies. These investments show how Tether wants to connect USDT and other assets to real-world payment rails.
Tether is also developing a self-custodial AI-powered wallet that processes data on-device and supports Bitcoin, USDT, XAUT, and a compliance-focused stablecoin. The wallet uses Tether’s own Wallet Development Kit plus its QVAC local AI platform, showing how AI and payments are converging in its product roadmap. Through the new grants program, Tether aims to bring more independent developers into this ecosystem and accelerate open-source tools for AI-driven payments.
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