How to transfer USDT to a bank account
USDT is a cryptocurrency stablecoin that's pegged one to one to the US dollar. That means one coin is always worth one US dollar. You can think of it as a digital dollar.
It's the most popular stablecoin in the cryptocurrency world, with a market cap exceeding $150 billion, making it the third most popular cryptocurrency behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum.
A big part of its popularity is its ability to merge the traditional and digital finance worlds. It has all the benefits of cryptocurrency, such as decentralized peer to peer payments, allowing you to send money directly from one crypto wallet to another anywhere in the world, while enjoying the stability you might find with more traditional currencies.
Its price doesn't fluctuate aggressively like Bitcoin, for example, which can move five or ten per cent in a matter of days.
The USDT network handles massive transaction volumes reaching more than $27 trillion in 2024. That exceeds the combined volume of MasterCard and Visa transactions.
So there's no doubt that it's a popular method for sending money around the world. The only problems arise when you want to transfer USDT into a bank account.
In this article, we'll go through how to withdraw USDT to a bank account, showing you all the different methods, step by step USDT withdrawal walkthroughs and considerations for the fastest and cheapest options to cash out USDT.
Understanding USDT and bank transfers
USDT was launched in 2014 by Tether Limited, and it is now a cryptocurrency that runs on multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana and Tron. It maintains a stable value as each USDT token is backed by US dollars or equivalents in Tether's reserves.
So, in order to create new USDT tokens, one US dollar or equivalent has to be deposited. Now, most people don't need to create USDT, you can simply buy, sell and trade it on cryptocurrency exchanges and similar platforms.
The challenge of converting crypto to fiat
When trying to move your USDT into fiat currency, the problem is this: you cannot send cryptocurrency directly to a bank account. You need to use a medium of exchange to trade your USDT for fiat currency, just like you would if you were to buy cryptocurrency.
In order to transfer USDT to a bank account, you'll need at least three things:
A cryptocurrency wallet holding USDT
A verified account on a crypto exchange or payment processor
An active local bank account that accepts payments from crypto providers
Within that, you'll need to complete KYC verification with both your crypto platform and your traditional bank account. This means you'll need to provide documentation such as government IDs.
Once verified, you can then start using your preferred method to progress with a USDT withdrawal to your bank account.
It's also worth noting that some crypto exchanges will impose different verification levels. At the same time, it's pretty easy to get verification for a small withdrawal, such as below $1,000. If you have significant amounts of USDT to cash out, you might need more comprehensive documentation or split large transfers over multiple days so as not to exceed withdrawal limits.
You should check with your bank to see if they accept payments from crypto exchanges. Many banks will reject any funds coming directly from a crypto exchange. This will make it impossible to cash out your funds with your normal bank.
But don't worry… below we'll go through the top methods for transferring USDT to a bank account, even if you can't use a crypto exchange.
How to transfer USDT to a bank account: Top methods
While most people might rely on a centralized exchange to sell USDT and withdraw it to a bank account, there are other options. There are peer to peer trading platforms where you can strike a deal directly with another party, crypto debit cards to spend on the go, DeFi off ramps and Acctual, which automates the whole transfer process.
1. Using centralized exchanges
The leading names in the cryptocurrency world, such as Coinbase and Binance, have built their reputations on providing user friendly crypto exchanges for individuals and businesses. They're known as centralized as they're owned and operated by a single entity.
These companies allow you to deposit both fiat and cryptocurrency into an account and start trading. This is different from a decentralized exchange, as you are required to entrust your funds to the organization, similar to storing them in a bank account.
While you do lose control of your funds, platforms like Coinbase are very well known for making it easy to deposit USDT, trade it for fiat and withdraw directly to your bank account.
Because of their global popularity, there's high liquidity for large transactions, even for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trades. Adding to this, they tend to be more compliant with regulations, meaning there's less chance of fraud or scams.
This helps to provide security and peace of mind, particularly for new users who aren't used to the technicalities of crypto.
Before you engage with an exchange, you should ensure that they provide their service in your country. Their highly regulated nature means it can be hit and miss as to which jurisdictions they operate in, or even particular states in the US.
Adding to this, the fee structures can vary greatly. You could end up paying anywhere between 0.1% and 5% once you take into account exchange rates, market spreads and withdrawal fees.
Plus, there can be long processing times with verification checks, meaning it can take one to five business days for your funds to be withdrawn from an account.
Using peer to peer (P2P) platforms
Peer to peer trading platforms allow you to make a trade directly with another person. While centralized exchanges use traditional order book style trading, like a stock market, peer to peer is striking a deal with one individual where you send them USDT, and they send you fiat currency.
You could agree to do this directly with another party, but specialist P2P platforms add an extra layer of protection and include escrow systems to help protect both parties.
They give a little more flexibility than a traditional exchange. Often, you'll find that they have lower fees and there might not even be a need to convert and withdraw fiat on the platform. Instead, you can send finances to one another via the escrow system.
While they can throw up more headaches than centralized exchanges, they're particularly popular in regions which don't have strong centralized exchange support. In countries with weak banking infrastructure, they can be the only viable option to make a trade, especially when currency controls are involved.
With this more direct trading style, there is more potential for scams, fraud and less protections if something goes wrong with the trade. Adding to this, you'll likely need to negotiate or work harder to find a favorable exchange rate. You might end up paying 5 to 10% above market value.
So it's essential to be extra vigilant and protect yourself adequately on a P2P exchange.
Binance P2P, ByBit and Paxful are all popular P2P exchanges that give you a wide choice of reputable trading partners and high liquidity.
Using crypto debit cards
Did you know you can spend crypto via a Visa or MasterCard? Many platforms, including well known companies like Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com, also have the ability to spend directly from their debit cards. These are referred to as crypto debit cards.
They work in a similar way to your normal banking. You make sure you have USDT funds in your account, and then you can use that debit card to spend just as you would with a normal Visa or MasterCard.
You can tap and go in the shops or even make ATM withdrawals. It feels like spending normal money, but behind the scenes, your crypto is automatically converted to the local fiat currency and sent to the merchant.
So it gives you instant spending power without needing to trade and withdraw funds to your bank account.
But you need to be aware that this can come at a cost. You won't be getting a favorable exchange rate on your crypto. These companies will take a markup on the spread or conversion fee, which can be as high as 3 to 4%, plus charge you $3 to $5 for ATM withdrawals.
So for regular everyday purchases, it might not actually be so useful, but many people love the convenience.
DeFi solutions
If you're a more experienced crypto user, you might be using decentralized finance (DeFi) options. For example, you might trade your Bitcoin for USDT on a DEX or “decentralized exchange”. These are not owned and operated by a single entity; rather, they run in a more automatic fashion on the blockchain and are governed in a community fashion.
For crypto to crypto transactions, they're great because you can access them with a self custody wallet like MetaMask and start trading without needing any KYC checks or banking information. You might even be using your USDT for staking and yield farming functionality.
Unfortunately, it can be hard to get your USDT from the DeFi world into the TradFi (traditional finance) world .
Even with popular Web3 wallets, you'll still need to move your funds into a centralized exchange or P2P platform in order to switch your crypto for fiat. Although more of these Web3 wallets, like MetaMask, are introducing their own debit cards, you could start spending your DeFi funds in that manner.
Again, it might not be the most cost effective in the long run.
Using Acctual to withdraw USDT to your bank account
Acctual is the easiest way to receive USDT and transfer instantly to your bank account without any of the hassles above. There are multiple ways to use the platform.
If you have USDT in a crypto wallet, you could use the account to account transfer feature to send it directly to your bank account. Acctual takes care of everything behind the scenes, so it feels like sending any other transaction. You are given a USDT address tied to your bank account. So everytime you send USDT you have peace of mind that the funds arrive in your chosen bank account.
If you're receiving USDT from someone else, Acctual can pay it straight into your bank account. For example, if you're a freelancer and your client wants to pay you in USDT, you could invoice them and allow them to pay in USDT, but receive the funds in your local fiat currency, like US dollars, straight into your bank account.
All for just a 1% fee. There's no hassle of order books, withdrawal limits, or checking if your bank is amenable to a crypto exchange.
Step by step guide: P2P method for withdrawing USDT to a bank account
Let's go through a step by step example of how to use a P2P platform to exchange your USDT for fiat currency.
Step 1: Platform selection
You'll need to choose a reputable P2P platform. When making your decision, look for a provider with a long, trusted history in the industry. This should also be combined with a solid user base.
The more extended history of success reduces the chances of scams and fraud, while a high user base ensures there is plenty of liquidity for you to trade whenever you want. You should also check the geographic availability to make sure it's available in your jurisdiction.
Step 2: Account setup
Even though it's a direct P2P trade, you'll need to create a validated account. This will involve KYC checks. The sign up process will require your email address, personal details, identity documents and address, along with your banking details when signing up.
Step 3: Creating an offer
With a validated account, you can then choose from two routes. Either you can create an offer to advertise that you want to sell USDT for a particular currency. This will include setting your rate, which should be competitive with current valuations.
Although with USDT, prices should be as close to one dollar as possible. You can then add the payment methods that you want to work with, how you want to receive the funds, whether that's through direct bank transfer or other payment apps.
Then add the minimum and maximum transaction amounts. For high value trades, you might need to work with multiple buyers.
If you don't want to create a sell offer, you can use the vendor marketplace where buyers have their offers ready for you to take advantage of. So you could go through the list and find a buyer with a high reputation score above 95% positive, a long trade history of over 50 complete trades and an account age of six months or more.
Using these vetting criteria will help you find a reliable vendor to make the trade.
Step 4: Making the trade
Once you have found a reputable vendor that meets your requirements, you can start communication and confirm each other's payment details. You then are required to transfer your USDT into the P2P exchange's escrow, and the buyer will send the fiat payment to your bank account.
When funds have arrived in your bank account, the P2P exchange releases the crypto to the vendor.
Step 5: Disputes
Using a P2P platform gives you an independent arbitrator in any disputes. If anything goes wrong with the payments, a reputable platform like Paxful will have a transparent and fair resolution system.
It will allow both sides to submit their evidence and the moderator to resolve the issue fairly.
Step by step guide: Spending USDT with a crypto debit card
If you want a hassle free and convenient way to start spending your USDT, then a crypto debit card is just the ticket.
Be aware that it's not the most cost efficient way. You're likely to get unfavorable exchange rates and fees for the convenience.
Step 1: Choosing a card provider
Like anything with crypto, you want to make sure your platform is reliable and trusted. So it's always best to go with one of the robust industry names.
Crypto.com and Coinbase both offer easy access to crypto cards. Although you should be sure that your provider operates in your country without regulatory restriction, and that merchants in your area will accept Visa or MasterCard.
Step 2: Setting up your account
Next, you'll need to set up a validated account. This is similar to creating any exchange account or bank account. You'll need to provide all your personal details and identification to pass KYC checks.
During the sign up process, you might be offered various options. For example, Crypto.com has virtual and physical cards and different tiers. While the basic options might be completely free to acquire, higher tiers might have a monthly or annual fee attached, but can offer attractive rewards.
These could be crypto cashback on spending, so you can earn USDT at 1% every time you spend, plus more attractive staking rewards.
Step 3: Loading USDT onto a debit card
Funding your card should be simple if you already own USDT. You can send it to the relevant platform account just like you'd send any other crypto transaction. There should be a useful QR code, or you can copy and paste your public key into your crypto wallet to make the transaction.
If you don't have USDT, then you could load other crypto into the account or even fiat and trade it for USDT.
Step 4: Using your crypto debit card
Once validated and funded, you're ready to start paying for stuff with crypto. Just like you'd use any other Visa or MasterCard, you can pay for products and services in shops, make online purchases, or withdraw cash from an ATM. However, the latter is likely to incur heavy fees.
It's a really neat way to be able to spend your crypto in an instant, with your card provider taking care of all the complications of exchanging and paying merchants. It's pretty cool to be able to go to an ATM and withdraw your USDT in a local fiat currency.
All this convenience comes at a cost. You could easily get exchange rate shocks and fees that rack up anywhere between 3 and 5%. So if you're using it for everyday purchases, it will be costly.
Understanding fees and timeframes
By far, the two biggest factors to consider when transferring USDT to your bank account are the cost and time. Let’s break down what it will cost and how long it will take to complete your USDT withdrawal.
Fee breakdowns
Trading fees can vary greatly depending on the platform and the method you use. If you want to use a centralized exchange and use their advanced order book systems, then your USDT trades could be as cheap as 0.1% to switch from crypto to fiat.
But if you use the more user friendly instant convert features, then it can be more costly at anywhere between 2 3%. This is because platforms will take a cut on the spread in the currency exchange.
As with most things, convenience comes at a cost.
You also need to consider network fees. Suppose you're transferring your USDT from a crypto wallet to an exchange. Make sure to understand how much that's going to cost you. As USDT runs across multiple blockchains, it can be very dependent on the chain. For example, Ethereum could be expensive during times of high network congestion compared to TRC 20 USDT tokens on the Tron blockchain.
Then there are withdrawal fees. Many exchanges will charge you per withdrawal. That could be anything between $5 and $20 for a simple bank transfer. If it's only a small amount, then it might not be worth it at all.
When you consider all the fees involved, they can quickly rack up to $20 or more.
How long does it take to transfer USDT to a bank account?
While the initial trade might be quick, if you don't have an exchange account, then it might take a couple of days to get your KYC validated. Although at Acctual, this can happen nearly instantaneously with the proper documentation.
Making your trade can be quick on centralized exchanges or be done within a day using a peer to peer method. The real slowdown will be when the withdrawal from an exchange is processed.
This can range from hours to weeks or more. Generally speaking, money will hit your bank account in a few hours, but if there are any issues or suspicious activity, then accounts can be frozen.
Many crypto exchanges have a poor track record of delivering excellent customer service and clearing up account freezes fast. It means some people have had their money locked away for months, particularly for unusual first time withdrawals.
Plus, if your bank account isn't crypto friendly, then transfers can be rejected or frozen completely.
If you want to make large withdrawals, then make sure you have high verification tiers, which could take a while to obtain and avoid suspicious multiple withdrawals every day.
Compliance considerations
Just because USDT is a cryptocurrency doesn't mean governments aren't paying attention. In fact, more scrutiny is being applied to the industry, particularly in developed nations.
Crypto exchanges are constantly fighting to stay up to date with financial regulations. AML compliance means that all transactions over $10,000 need to be reported in many jurisdictions, and some places even prohibit crypto bank transfers altogether.
So if you live in a country where it's not even legal for bank accounts to receive funds from crypto, then you might have a problem.
Tax reporting considerations
There's also tax reporting to understand. Even though USDT is worth one dollar and maintains a stable value, taxable events still occur. The actual trade from USDT to US dollars, for example, might not cost you anything in tax, but it still needs to be closely recorded as a taxable event.
This is because any cryptocurrency is treated as property, not currency, which means sending, selling and trading all count as disposals of capital assets. And if you've traded a more volatile cryptocurrency like Bitcoin for your USDT, this will also likely incur reporting requirements.
So whatever you do, you need to keep close records of the source of funds and understand the tax implications in your record keeping. This will simplify filing your returns and allow you to clear up any questions in potential audits.
Common USDT cash out FAQs
How to withdraw USDT from Binance to bank account?
To withdraw USDT from Binance to a bank account, you’ll need to create a verified exchange account and deposit USDT. Then you must trade USDT for your preferred fiat currency before using the withdrawal via bank transfer function in your account.
How to cash out USDT to USD?
To cash out USDT to USD, you can use a crypto exchange, a P2P transaction, or a crypto debit card. The easiest method is to use Acctual to transfer funds directly from your USDT wallet into your USD bank account.
How to withdraw USDT from Metamask to bank account?
To withdraw USDT from Metamask to a bank account, you can link your wallet to your bank account on Acctual. Then send the desired amount of USDT directly to your bank account. Actual takes care of the currency conversion and depositing funds to your fiat account.
How to convert USDT into cash?
To convert USDT into cash, you could use a crypto debit card and withdraw cash from an ATM. Or Acctual can transfer USDT from your crypto wallet directly to your bank account to spend fiat how you want.
Can USDT be deposited into a bank account?
You can’t deposit USDT directly into a bank account. You’ll need to use a platform like Acctual to facilitate the deposit. It enables you to link a crypto wallet and bank account, then send deposit transactions via the automated system.
How do I accept payments in USDT?
You can use two methods to accept payments in USDT. First, you can get people to pay it directly into your compatible crypto wallet. You can also use Acctual to invoice someone in USDT and get paid into either your bank account or crypto wallet. It’s your choice with complete flexibility in how you accept payment in USDT.
Instantly transfer USDT to a bank account with Acctual
Acctual takes all the stress out of withdrawing USDT to a bank account. There's no confusing trading exchanges, worries about trusting a P2P vendor, or racking up fees on a debit card.
Instead, it's an all in one platform to connect your crypto with traditional banking. In fact, it's purpose built for smooth USDT to bank transfers with functions you won't find on any other platform.
While you might go through five to seven steps to get your crypto into your bank account through normal methods, Acctual lets you do it with the click of a button. You can link your wallet address to a dedicated bank account and then send your USDT for a fee of just 1%.
As if by magic, the funds appear in your bank account.
Business integration features
If you're using USDT for business, then you can even integrate invoicing into your payments. You can create a crypto invoice that allows your client to pay you in USDT, and that USDT can be paid straight into your fiat bank account.
Or vice versa, your client could pay in US dollars or euros, and you receive USDT directly into your crypto wallet.
Plus, everything is automatically tracked and reconciled in your accounting system, whether you're working in fiat payments or crypto payments. So you're ready for tax reporting when the time comes.
There's no easier way to cash out your USDT. You can use the simple registration process to get started right now. Fast KYC verification could have you up and running in minutes.
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