150 people generating $14 billion in profit: Tether's alchemy
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
150 people generating $14 billion in profit: Tether's alchemy
Tether is the most efficient company on Earth.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Bridget Harris
Translation: TechFlow
In 2024, Tether generated $14 billion in profit with just 150 employees—equivalent to $93 million per employee. This astonishing efficiency has led many to believe that Tether might be the most operationally efficient company in the world.
So how did this stablecoin company achieve such a feat?
Last year, Tether posted $14 billion in profits—surpassing Pfizer, Tesla, and BlackRock. And it achieved this without relying on advertising or a large workforce, but rather through a product many may have overlooked: the USDT stablecoin.
Today, USDT has a circulating supply of $147 billion, far outpacing other stablecoins and making it the most widely used stablecoin globally. Beyond that, Tether is also pursuing ambitious ventures in artificial intelligence, private communications, and neurotechnology.
Every time someone buys USDT, Tether invests the received cash into income-generating assets, primarily U.S. Treasury bonds.
In 2024, Tether became the seventh-largest buyer of U.S. Treasuries, surpassing countries and regions like Canada, Taiwan, and Norway. And its pace is accelerating: last year, USDT issuance reached $45 billion—an increase of 57% year-on-year—while user growth rose by 13% in the first quarter of 2025.
Although Tether has historically maintained a low profile, it is now increasingly sharing its vision for the future as the U.S. regulatory environment shifts in its favor.
Stablecoins are blockchain-based digital dollars pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. They provide global access to the dollar, serving both as a store of value and a tool to dramatically improve capital efficiency—especially in cross-border payments.
The second-largest stablecoin is Circle’s USDC, with $62 billion in circulation—less than half of USDT’s volume. USDC focuses more on payment compliance and institutional adoption. Unlike USDT, which dominates international markets where dollar access is limited, USDC—originally launched by Coinbase and Circle—is more popular within the U.S. market.
Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino, a 40-year-old Italian computer scientist, describes himself as a “simple man” who pays little attention to competitors.
He told Forbes earlier this month: “They don’t represent the real use cases for stablecoins.”
In his view, the core value of stablecoins lies in providing reliable, usable money to people in economically unstable countries—individuals in places like Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria. In these regions, rapid local currency depreciation makes saving nearly impossible, creating an urgent need for dollar access.
While USDT’s primary usage remains concentrated in emerging markets, Paolo is also exploring launching a domestic stablecoin tailored specifically for U.S. institutions.
“How ‘interesting’ will that be for our competitors?” he quipped in the Forbes interview.
One distinctive aspect of Tether’s business is its partnership with Cantor Fitzgerald, a legendary U.S. financial institution. A few years ago, when no other American firm wanted to work with Tether, Cantor became its banking partner—even at a time when Tether faced controversy over holding Chinese corporate bonds in part of its reserves.
Despite the controversies, Cantor took the risk. Recently, it acquired a 5% stake in Tether for $600 million—a valuation that appears significantly discounted. The move may partly reflect gratitude for Cantor’s early support. Notably, Cantor’s former chairman and CEO, Howard Lutnick, is now the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under the Trump administration.
At a recent Bitcoin conference, Lutnick responded to criticism of Tether: “They say Tether is owned by the Chinese. Actually, it’s owned by Giancarlo—he’s Italian. There’s a difference.”
(Note: Giancarlo is Tether’s CFO and holds approximately 47% of the company. Source: Forbes)
What explains the close relationship between Tether and Cantor—and the favorable terms behind this deal? The secret lies in Cantor’s unique status: it is one of only 24 primary dealers in the United States authorized to trade directly with the Federal Reserve.
In practical terms, this means that if large numbers of users try to redeem USDT for dollars, Tether can meet demand instantly. As a primary dealer, Cantor helps the Fed maintain liquidity in the government bond market, giving it direct access to the central bank. When Tether needs cash, Cantor can sell U.S. Treasuries directly to the Fed—immediately and without intermediaries.
In other words, Tether gains instant access to dollars through the world’s safest and most liquid asset. This kind of firepower is unmatched by any other stablecoin issuer.
Tether’s strong position was not accidental. In 2022, Tether came under attack from Sam Bankman-Fried and his company FTX. They attempted to trigger a bank-run-like crisis by accumulating and dumping billions of dollars worth of USDT within two days. Ultimately, Tether successfully met redemption requests totaling $7 billion—about 10% of its then-circulating supply.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino noted on the recent episode of Odd Lots that a 10% run within 48 hours would bankrupt most financial institutions, yet Tether emerged “unscathed.”
In a sense, Tether also has some resilience against fluctuations in U.S. Treasury yields: typically, when interest rates fall, economic activity increases, driving up deposits and USDT circulation (even if yields decline, higher volumes still generate substantial returns). Conversely, when rates rise, Tether benefits directly from higher reserve yields, boosting profitability.
While these effects aren't perfectly offsetting, this structural dynamic provides Tether with a strategic advantage.
Critics often accuse Tether of never undergoing a formal audit and speculate that USDT may be used for crime and money laundering. In response, Paolo frequently points to cases where illicit funds flow undetected through banks, credit card networks, and payment processors—only to be flagged and frozen once they enter the Tether system. To date, Tether has assisted over 400 U.S. law enforcement actions and collaborated with 230 agencies across 50 countries.
Paolo also believes that in regions like South America and Africa, Tether is effectively the last line of defense in dollarization. “You almost don’t see the presence of America,” he said on Odd Lots, “except for McDonald’s.”
“In these places, hospitals, schools, libraries, and airports are being built by China,” Paolo added. He noted that China is promoting a gold-backed digital currency to pay workers on these infrastructure projects. If successful, this initiative could threaten the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency and ultimately weaken U.S. geopolitical influence.
In African villages, Tether is deploying small solar-powered stations where people can rent batteries for 3 USDT per month. With 600 million people lacking reliable electricity across the region—and average monthly incomes around $80—this 3 USDT subscription is highly affordable. Similar initiatives are underway in South America, where small shops are beginning to accept USDT payments. These grassroots channels not only serve as distribution mechanisms for USDT (benefiting Tether’s growth) but also quietly extend the reach of the U.S. dollar (a positive development from Washington’s perspective).
Tether’s ambitions extend beyond stablecoins. The company has invested in AI data centers such as Northern Data, which operates 24,000 GPUs. It is also developing Keet, a peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging app.
Historically, the main challenge with P2P apps has been poor user experience, which Tether is actively working to solve. “We’re looking for solutions to UX problems, aiming eventually for the same user experience as WhatsApp—but fully P2P,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino via Zoom. The Holepunch protocol powering Keet is actually a broadly applicable P2P standard capable of supporting various decentralized systems.
“What if we could suddenly build a suite of applications—from social media and messaging to enterprise tools—that reduce infrastructure costs by 97%, enhance privacy, and ensure data belongs to its rightful owners?”
In addition, Tether has developed Hadron, a platform for asset tokenization; launched a self-custody open-source wallet; and invested in a brain-computer interface company.
In terms of headcount, Tether is small—just 150 employees—but exceptionally loyal. “When we went through our toughest moments, not a single person on my team left,” Paolo said at a Cantor Crypto Conference.
He partly attributes this loyalty to Tether’s focus on hiring talent from emerging markets. “They know what really matters... They want to work for us because they see we’re genuinely solving real problems they face—not the ones wealthy-world elites assume they have,” Paolo explained.
Paolo sees Tether as a once-in-a-century company because it can “decouple building great technology from the pressure to monetize.” In other words, the company can focus on innovation (beyond just USDT) without worrying about short-term profits. Thanks to the robust revenue from USDT, Tether can afford to develop “the craziest technologies” without rushing to monetize them.
“We use the technology we build ourselves as a distribution layer to support our ‘golden goose’—USDT. I don’t think any other company can do that,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in an interview.
“The more empowering our technology is for users, the more successful our core product becomes. This is completely different from traditional tech companies, which often trap users in walled gardens to sell more products.”
One of the most encouraging aspects of Tether’s story is that its leadership has never forgotten the original ethos of cryptocurrency. “Institutions will betray you for a single basis point (0.01%),” Paolo said on Odd Lots—a sentiment once widely shared across the crypto community during its early days, but now largely forgotten. Returning power from exploitative institutions back to individuals was the foundational idea behind cryptocurrency.
Interestingly, one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in crypto today remains faithful to these founding principles, while those who abandoned them in pursuit of money often end up failing—or even in prison. Equally rare is a company so profitable that still delivers tangible benefits to its users—people in emerging markets who previously had no access to stable money. All of this stems from Paolo’s sincere belief: “I want Tether to be seen as… a positive contribution to the world.”
On his vision for Tether, Paolo said: “The past 20 years were very good for the Western world, but I don’t think the next 10 to 15 years will be equally stable for the West. We’re a stablecoin company… but perhaps we’re more of a ‘stability company.’ Our technology aims to bring stability to society—and that stability can start with money.”
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
@PirateWires
