Tether CEO Blitz: Decoding Paolo Ardoino's Sudden Rise to Prominence
If you’ve been following the financial news lately, you’ve likely noticed a significant shift. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has been unusually visible, securing prominent features in publications like Fortune and Bloomberg, and engaging in interviews with Reuters and GearTech. This sudden media blitz begs the question: what’s driving the man behind the often-controversial stablecoin to actively court public attention?
The Strategic Timing: USAT Launch and a Shifting Landscape
The timing of Ardoino’s increased visibility isn’t coincidental. This week marked the launch of USAT, a U.S.-regulated stablecoin issued through Anchorage Digital Bank – Tether’s first product explicitly designed to comply with evolving federal regulations. This move directly challenges Circle’s USDC dominance in the U.S. market. Adding to the competitive pressure, Fidelity Investments also recently launched a competing stablecoin, joining JPMorgan Chase and PayPal in a rapidly expanding race. With Howard Lutnick, former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO, now a year into his role as Commerce Secretary and Cantor Fitzgerald managing Tether’s reserves, Ardoino appears to be strategically capitalizing on the moment to reposition Tether as both legitimate and indispensable.
From Offshore Obscurity to Mainstream Acceptance
This represents a dramatic turnaround. For years, Ardoino deliberately maintained a distance from the United States, observing from abroad as regulators scrutinized and prosecutors investigated. Tether was often portrayed as opaque, potentially fraudulent, and, as highlighted in a recent Economist article, a “money launderer’s dream.”
However, a recent conversation with Ardoino revealed a clear departure from this past approach. Tether is now actively engaging with White House officials, collaborating with the FBI and Secret Service, and betting on USAT to disrupt Circle’s stronghold in the U.S. market. (It’s important to note that USAT is distinct from Tether’s flagship USDT, which boasts a global circulation of $187 billion but doesn’t currently meet the new U.S. regulatory standards.) Speaking from Tether’s office in Lugano, Switzerland, the 41-year-old – who joined the company shortly after its 2014 inception – dedicated over an hour to detailing Tether’s transformation from a crypto-centric venture to a mainstream financial player.
Unstoppable Momentum: USDT's Dominance and Growth
Tether’s momentum is undeniable. USDT – essentially a digital dollar leveraging blockchain technology for borderless transactions independent of any single institution – commands a market capitalization of $187 billion, exceeding the combined market cap of all its stablecoin competitors. The user base is equally impressive, currently standing at 536 million and growing at a rate of 30 million per quarter. “It’s growing at a pace more akin to Facebook than any other fintech application,” Ardoino asserts.
The stablecoin race is intensifying, with Fidelity Investments being the latest financial giant to enter the fray, following JPMorgan Chase and PayPal. However, Tether’s first-mover advantage extends beyond sheer market dominance, according to Ardoino. He argues that it has been profoundly transformative for individuals in countries grappling with unstable currencies.
Financial Inclusion: A Lifeline for Vulnerable Economies
“In Argentina, the peso has lost 94.5% of its value against the U.S. dollar in the last five years,” Ardoino points out. “In Haiti, the average salary is $1.34 per day. These individuals were previously excluded from the formal financial system.”
“Tether has created the biggest financial inclusion success story in the history of humanity,” he continues, explaining that the company now collaborates with nearly 300 law enforcement agencies across more than 60 countries. He emphasizes that the transparency inherent in blockchain technology facilitates easier monitoring for illicit activity compared to traditional banking systems.
Addressing Past Controversies and Building Trust
Ardoino acknowledges the need to further solidify public trust. The Economist’s report last summer, detailing allegations of Tether being used by Russian money launderer Ekaterina Zhdanova to connect criminal networks, remains a point of scrutiny.
When confronted with this reporting, Ardoino downplays its significance, characterizing the amounts mentioned as “a truly negligible fraction.” He maintains that the “vast majority of USDT usage is legitimate,” drawing a parallel to other technologies: “iPhones and Toyotas are sometimes used for illicit purposes as well.”
Blockchain as a Law Enforcement Tool
Ardoino goes further, arguing that Tether’s technology actually provides law enforcement with superior capabilities compared to cash. “If hundreds of billions of dollars in cash were circulating globally, U.S. law enforcement would have limited recourse,” he states. “However, with USDT, we’ve demonstrated our ability to quickly freeze funds in collaboration with the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, and hundreds of other agencies.”
According to Ardoino, Tether has frozen $3.5 billion in tokens, with the majority belonging to victims of scams or hacks. In 2023 alone, the company proactively identified $225 million involved in a “pig-butchering scam” – a sophisticated fraud where scammers build relationships with victims before luring them into fake investments – within “the blink of an eye,” after traditional financial systems failed to detect it.
“We have onboarded the FBI and the Secret Service. We adhere to OFAC [the Office of Foreign Assets Control] regulations,” he emphasizes.
S&P Global Ratings and the TerraLuna Collapse
Despite these efforts, skepticism persists. Just three months ago, S&P Global Ratings assessed USDT’s stability as weak. Ardoino dismisses this assessment, pointedly questioning S&P’s track record: “If that’s the same S&P that missed the subprime crisis, I’m proud they consider us weak.”
He then references the spring of 2022, when TerraLuna, another major stablecoin, collapsed spectacularly, wiping out $40 billion in value overnight. Panic spread throughout the stablecoin market, and hedge funds bet against Tether. Customers initiated withdrawals. “We redeemed $7 billion in 48 hours – 10% of our reserves. In 20 days, $20 billion – 25% of our reserves. No bank in the world could withstand that level of redemptions. We navigated it successfully.”
Ardoino subtly alludes to a competitor that fared less well during a similar bank run, implicitly referencing Circle. When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023, Circle’s USDC briefly lost its peg after revealing $3 billion in exposure. When asked directly about Circle – often presented as the more compliant alternative – his PR team swiftly intervenes. He manages only to say: “Sometimes you are portrayed differently if you don’t conform to Wall Street’s expectations.”
Reserves and the Cantor Fitzgerald Connection
Ardoino highlights that Tether currently holds $30 billion in excess reserves, exceeding the amount needed to redeem all outstanding tokens. Crucially, these reserves are managed by Cantor Fitzgerald – the Wall Street firm led by Lutnick for over three decades before his appointment as Commerce Secretary. Lutnick has publicly affirmed Tether’s legitimacy, while Cantor Fitzgerald earns fees for managing Tether’s substantial Treasury holdings, creating a financial alignment alongside Lutnick’s role in shaping U.S. commerce policy.
Tether: Safer Than Traditional Banks?
Ardoino’s central argument is that Tether is now safer than traditional banks. “The banking system operates on fractional reserves, typically around 90%,” he explains. “So, if you deposit $1 million in a bank account, only $100,000 is actually held in reserve, while $900,000 is lent out.” In contrast, he argues, “even if Bitcoin were to fall to zero, Tether would still possess more funds than all USDT tokens in circulation.”
Profits and the Potential for Interest Sharing
These substantial reserves generate significant profits. According to Fortune, Tether reported over $15 billion in profit for 2025, primarily derived from interest on its reserves, which it currently doesn’t share with USDT holders. When questioned about potentially sharing this interest, Ardoino suggests that while it’s a common expectation for Americans, it’s not a priority for Tether’s core users, who primarily seek to preserve value.
“The Turkish Lira has lost 81% of its value against the U.S. dollar in the last five years. The Argentine peso has lost 94.5%,” he says. For someone whose currency depreciates by 3% daily, a 4% annual interest rate is insignificant. “While for the rest of the world, U.S. dollar stablecoins are the savings account, you cannot think about stablecoins for U.S. people as the savings account, but more like a checking account.”
Furthermore, pending legislation like the CLARITY Act, currently progressing through Congress, could prohibit stablecoin issuers from paying interest, a move supported by banking groups to prevent capital flight from traditional banks. For Tether, its passage would simply formalize its existing business model. For competitors like Circle, which have experimented with reward programs, it could eliminate a competitive advantage.
Beyond Stablecoins: Tether's Expanding Ambitions
Ardoino’s vision extends far beyond USDT. Tether Gold, a token backed by physical gold launched in 2020, currently has $2.6 billion in circulation. However, Tether’s overall gold strategy is far more ambitious. According to Ardoino’s Bloomberg interview, the company holds approximately 140 tons of gold, valued at roughly $24 billion, making it one of the largest private gold holders globally.
When asked about the rationale behind products like Tether Gold, he frames it as providing alternatives in an uncertain world. “Gold has historically been the primary, almost universal form of currency,” he explains. “With blockchain technology, we can now make gold a currency again, not just as a store of value, but also as a medium of exchange.”
He recalls that when the gold product launched, “we were almost considered crazy.” Since then, Tether has been acquiring a staggering one to two tons of gold per week, positioning itself as what Ardoino calls “one of the biggest gold central banks in the world.”
Venturing into AI: Qvac and Decentralized Innovation
However, it’s Tether’s foray into AI that reveals Ardoino’s most ambitious aspirations. Roughly nine months ago, Tether launched Qvac, its decentralized AI platform. The name is inspired by Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Last Question,” which Ardoino considers “the most magnificent sci-fi piece of literature ever written.”
His pitch for Qvac mirrors his pitch for USDT: to serve the underserved. “USDT wasn’t intended for individuals with accounts at JPMorgan,” he explains. “We targeted those left behind by the traditional financial system.” Similarly, he believes centralized AI platforms will exclude billions of people who can’t afford subscriptions.
“If they don’t have enough money for a $150 annual bank account fee, they won’t be able to afford access to powerful AI platforms,” Ardoino states. Instead, Qvac will run locally on smartphones. Within three to five years, he predicts that today’s advanced smartphones will become commonplace in Africa and South America, enabling 70-80% of AI use cases. “Therefore, USDT will empower the largest decentralized AI platform in the world.”
A Sovereign Wealth Fund in the Making?
This is a bold vision, and Qvac is just one component of a larger strategy. According to Fortune, Tether has committed over $1 billion to German AI robotics firm Neura, $775 million to social media platform Rumble, and hundreds of millions more to satellites, data centers, and agriculture. The magazine describes Tether’s transformation into something resembling a sovereign wealth fund.
When asked about the seemingly disparate nature of these investments – including a stake in the Juventus soccer club – Ardoino insists they are interconnected. “Tether’s motto is to be a stable company,” he says. “That’s why we invest in land, cattle, agriculture, modern technology, and gold – the common thread is ensuring Tether remains a cornerstone for our users.”
He envisions an interconnected system where agriculture is digitized, gold markets are revolutionized, and telecommunications become peer-to-peer. “Our story is about building a company that can withstand the test of time,” he says. “It’s about becoming a social impact company that is changing the lives of hundreds of millions of people and providing them with something they never had before – stability.”
And when asked about potential political risks – what happens if the next U.S. administration views Tether as a threat, as the previous one did – Ardoino is prepared.
“I hope that financial inclusion and bringing 536 million people into the dollar system is something that both Republicans and Democrats care about,” he says. “It’s a matter of education.”
Ardoino will be joining us at GearTech Disrupt, happening in San Francisco October 13-15. Don’t miss out on what’s sure to be the year’s strongest industry event.