Tether is quietly bulking up its business beyond stablecoins — building a sprawling venture portfolio, hiring aggressively, and staking deeper political and operational ties around the world, according to a Financial Times report.
What’s happening
- Investment arm: Tether now holds roughly 140 investments across diverse sectors — from South American agriculture to a reported stake in Italian football club Juventus. Notable disclosed deal: a $775 million investment in Rumble, the right-leaning YouTube alternative that hosts Truth Social via its cloud services.
- Staff growth: The company has expanded to about 300 employees and plans to add roughly 150 more over the next 18 months, with most new hires slated to be engineers. LinkedIn listings suggest the hiring push spans unusual roles too — AI filmmakers in Italy, venture-investment associates in the UAE, and regulatory affairs leads in Ghana and Brazil.
- Product roll‑out: At a recent conference in San Salvador, CEO Paolo Ardoino unveiled plans for a “freedom tech stack” that he said will span finance, intelligence, communications and energy. On display at the event were products including MOS (a Bitcoin-mining operating system), the QVAC platform for AI agents, and WDK wallets designed to let AI agents accept Tether.
Scale and economics
- USDT’s rise: Tether’s USDT stablecoin grew from a market value of about $5 billion in 2020 to roughly $185 billion today, and the company says USDT serves around 500 million users as a primary bridge between crypto and dollars.
- Profit model: The firm generates substantial annual profits — described as “tens of billions” — from returns on the assets that back USDT. That yield is retained by the company rather than distributed to token holders.
Corporate structure and relocation
- Headquarters and offices: Tether shifted its headquarters to El Salvador last year and maintains a base in Switzerland; previous addresses included the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands. The company is building an office tower in El Salvador and executives have cultivated close ties with President Nayib Bukele’s administration.
- Governance and oversight: Tether operates through a relatively small executive circle. A new London-based team now manages finance and operations under CFO Simon McWilliams. Employees reportedly have limited visibility into other teams, with most cross‑company interaction occurring at occasional in-person gatherings in El Salvador or Lugano.
Financial relationships and political ties
- Banking and custodial links: Cantor Fitzgerald — the bank led by Howard Lutnick — serves as custodian for some of Tether’s U.S. Treasury holdings and reportedly has an investment relationship with the company. Brandon Lutnick, who succeeded his father as bank chair, attended the El Salvador conference and described Paolo Ardoino as “one of Cantor’s closest partners and a close personal friend.”
- Lobbying and hires: Tether has engaged U.S. lobbyists and recruited former members of the Trump administration as part of its U.S. expansion efforts.
Regulatory and legal backdrop
- Attestations vs audits: Tether publishes quarterly attestations from accounting firm BDO Italia, but it does not produce full audits of its reserves.
- Past enforcement matters: In 2021 the firm reached a settlement with state and federal authorities over allegations it misrepresented the assets backing USDT. More recently, New York officials including Attorney General Letitia James and the District Attorney raised concerns — in a letter to lawmakers — about whether Tether provides sufficient cooperation to law enforcement. Tether says it voluntarily works closely with U.S. enforcement agencies, while noting it is not bound by the same legal obligations as U.S.-regulated financial institutions.
- Fundraising attempt: The company explored a $15–$20 billion funding round that would have targeted a valuation near $500 billion, but that effort reportedly met resistance from some potential investors.
Why it matters
Tether has moved beyond being “just” the issuer of the largest stablecoin to become a substantial investor and operator across crypto infrastructure, media and other sectors. Its rapid growth in USDT supply, large investment book, and expanding product slate give it outsized influence in crypto markets — even as questions about transparency, regulatory cooperation and governance persist.
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