RWA protocol stUSDT winds down after TVL peak of approximately $2.3 billion
stUSDT, a yield-bearing token on the Tron network that once held approximately $2.3 billion in deposits, is shutting down.The team stopped reward accrual on Saturday, November 14, 2026, and opened a redemption window for holders. It did not say why the protocol is closing. It did say that every token is still fully backed.stUSDT launched in 2023. Users deposited USDT and received a receipt token tied to yield from tokenized short-term government bonds and other real-world assets, the category the industry calls RWAs.The token used a rebase mechanism. Think of a savings account where the interest shows up as extra coins in your wallet rather than a higher price per coin. Your balance simply grew on its own.A non-rebasing wrapped version, wstUSDT, also launched in 2023. Instead of adding tokens to your balance, it kept the count fixed. That design tends to play more nicely with lending markets and liquidity pools.Both versions are covered by the wind-down. Interest stopped accruing on November 14, 2026. Holders of stUSDT and wstUSDT can redeem through the official portal until May 14, 2027.After that date, the self-service option closes. Any remaining requests will be handled on a monthly basis until August 2027.The team said redemptions during the window carry no additional fees. Network transaction fees still apply.stUSDT's total value locked peaked at approximately $2.3 billion in November 2023.By mid-November 2026, that figure sat somewhere between $8.6 million and $9.5 million. That works out to a decline of more than 99% from the peak.The final stretch was abrupt. TVL fell 80% on the day rewards stopped. But the bulk of the drop came earlier, with deposits sliding for years before the announcement.Redemption is not a one-click affair for everyone. Users holding tokens on third-party platforms, such as the lending protocol JustLend or the decentralized exchange Curve, need to move them first.Wrapped wstUSDT must be unwrapped, and any staked positions must be unstaked. The tokens then need to sit in a self-custody wallet, meaning a wallet the user controls directly rather than one held by a platform.Only then can holders complete the redemption through the official stUSDT portal. Anyone with tokens scattered across DeFi positions has some housekeeping to do before May 14, 2027.The monthly processing through August 2027 offers a backstop for stragglers. Relying on it means waiting longer for funds, so the self-service window is the cleaner path.The most important detail for current holders is the backing claim. The team says the underlying assets remain fully backed, and redemptions are being processed in USDT.Liquidity is another practical concern. As holders withdraw, any remaining stUSDT and wstUSDT positions in pools on platforms like Curve may thin out. Users who prefer to exit through secondary markets rather than the official portal could face less favorable conditions as the wind-down progresses.Holders should track whether redemptions process smoothly through the portal, how quickly the remaining $8.6 million to $9.5 million in TVL drains, and whether third-party platforms like JustLend adjust their support for the tokens.