At the End of Stablecoins Lies a Financial Empire
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At the End of Stablecoins Lies a Financial Empire
Tether is evolving from a stablecoin company into a superpower capable of shaking up traditional finance.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Ryan Weeks, Todd Gillespie, and Annie Massa, Bloomberg
Translated by Luffy, Foresight News
In a dimly lit hotel ballroom in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, Paolo Ardoino—billionaire CEO of Tether Holdings SA—delivered a series of grim predictions. Against a backdrop of storm clouds, he forecast global geopolitical chaos, the collapse of monetary systems, and societal breakdown. Ardoino declared that Tether was preparing for this impending “apocalypse.”
In reality, the company behind the world’s most widely used stablecoin is undergoing rapid expansion. As a “digital dollar,” USDT underpins global cryptocurrency trading and capital flows. Tether reported over $10 billion in profit last year—a staggering return for a company with only around 300 employees—and is rapidly deploying cash to invest in businesses worldwide. With Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the firm has now officially entered the world’s wealthiest and most mature financial market.
Ardoino told Bloomberg News in an interview during a conference in San Salvador in January: “Tether is almost like a combination of Google and Blackstone. We have a massive financial arm capable of generating genuinely positive impact.” Tether relocated its global headquarters to this Central American capital last year.
Today, Ardoino has placed the United States at the center of his expansion strategy—with backing from allies of the Trump administration, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has long served as Tether’s banking partner and whose family firm holds shares in Tether. In January, Tether launched a new stablecoin targeting the U.S. market and intensified its lobbying efforts in Washington. The company is also courting global investors, aiming for a $500 billion valuation—placing it among the world’s most highly valued private companies.
This marks a stunning reversal of fortune. According to Bloomberg, Tether was under federal investigation during President Biden’s administration. Since 2021, its flagship token USDT—and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex—have been barred from operating in New York.
Critics say USDT remains popular in underground criminal activity, and escalating conflicts in the Middle East have again drawn attention to its widespread use by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Despite sweeping financial sanctions against Iran, USDT remains the backbone of its thriving crypto economy. In January, research firm TRM Labs published a case study detailing how the IRGC processed approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between 2023 and 2025—“the vast majority settled in USDT.”
In a statement, Tether said: “Tether takes fraud, consumer harm, and misuse of USDT extremely seriously and maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal activity.” The company added that it collaborates with law enforcement agencies globally and has frozen roughly $4 billion worth of USDT upon official requests.
Nearly half of those freezes were carried out at the request of U.S. authorities, who have publicly acknowledged Tether’s cooperation. By pausing regulatory actions and granting clemency to crypto fraudsters, the U.S. government has signaled that pressure on the crypto industry has significantly eased.
Meanwhile, spurred by Tether and its peers—and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—U.S. lawmakers are accelerating legislation to encourage stablecoin adoption. Bessent testified at a hearing that demand for dollar-pegged stablecoins would boost demand for U.S. Treasuries, thereby lowering America’s borrowing costs. According to The New York Times, Tether also plans to support a new political spending group ahead of this year’s midterm elections through its newly formed U.S. subsidiary. An entity calling itself “Tether America” has already signed on as a donor for Trump’s White House banquet hall project.
Setting aside apocalyptic prophecies and political maneuvering, Tether’s trading and fundraising activities have raised fresh questions about foundational aspects of its business model. The company has not fully disclosed its investment portfolio—which now includes more than 140 investments and is considered central to its strategic operations. According to insiders, Tether provided additional financial data to potential investors during its most recent funding round after they demanded greater transparency.
Bloomberg identified more than two dozen companies in Tether’s ever-expanding portfolio using public filings and statements. Many are concentrated in crypto and payments; others—including Tether’s largest publicly disclosed investment to date—extend into commodities, media, artificial intelligence, and energy.
According to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, Richard Heathcote—the company’s investment chief and principal architect of its expansive portfolio—is set to hand over responsibilities to his deputy. Heathcote previously worked as a broker at BGC Group, a Cantor Fitzgerald subsidiary, and played a pivotal role in forging Tether’s relationship with the investment bank, which has been led by the Lutnick family for decades.
Although Tether has promised a full audit for years, it has yet to deliver one. Accounting firm BDO conducts quarterly attestation audits of USDT’s assets. Last week, Deloitte certified Anchorage Digital Bank’s inaugural reserve report—the institution responsible for issuing Tether’s new U.S.-market token, USAT.
Insiders say Tether has informed investors it aims to complete a full audit by the end of 2026. Ardoino said the company is in talks with all four major accounting firms: “I won’t make promises, but it’s an extremely high-priority item—and progress is going very well.”
He may have little choice. Last month, Democratic Senator Jack Reed specifically named Tether in proposing new legislation requiring foreign-issued, dollar-backed stablecoin issuers to undergo audits. Arthur Wilmarth, emeritus law professor at George Washington University and a longtime researcher of stablecoins’ potential systemic risks, said: “I’m not sure anyone fully understands Tether’s total risk exposure. The key issue is that much of this information remains opaque and hidden.”
While Ardoino stood in the spotlight at the El Salvador event, Bo Hines—the head of Tether’s U.S. operations—kept a low profile. After the event concluded, the 30-year-old former football player and former White House crypto advisor boarded a private jet back to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is building Tether’s U.S. headquarters.
Hines, alongside former PayPal lobbyist Jesse Spiro, leads Tether’s push in the United States. Its new token, USAT, is designed to maintain a stable $1 value while complying with a law passed in 2025 requiring U.S.-issued stablecoins to be backed by short-term Treasury securities and subject to stricter marketing and compliance rules.
In emerging markets, Tether users typically seek access to dollars or rely on the token for fast, low-cost domestic and cross-border transfers. In the U.S., however, stablecoins are more likely to gain traction in everyday commerce—as tools to bypass delays and fees associated with banks and credit cards. Supporters argue this saves costs for merchants and consumers alike, while skeptics warn of insufficient safeguards and the irreversible nature of transactions.
Tether also views the U.S. as fertile ground for future investments. In his keynote address in El Salvador, Ardoino highlighted Tether’s stake in the popular video platform Rumble, calling it “a real-world example of truth defense.” The company plans to integrate its stablecoin to facilitate payments for Rumble’s millions of monthly users.
“We’re now investing in other platforms in the U.S.,” Ardoino said. He declined to name specific targets but added that the goal is to add millions more monthly active users across U.S. digital platforms—laying the groundwork for USAT to become an “inter-platform payment system.”
As the company pivots toward the U.S., it is clearly hedging both ways. In Ardoino’s most extreme vision of the future, the dollar loses its dominance—but Tether survives thanks to its growing footprint, gold holdings, and Bitcoin reserves. Alternatively, if the dollar remains the world’s reserve currency for the foreseeable future, Tether’s strong U.S. business presence and political influence will give it a decisive advantage.
Tether’s fate is now more concretely tied to the United States. The company has become one of the largest holders of U.S. Treasuries. According to its latest disclosures, 63% of its $193 billion year-end reserves consist of U.S. Treasuries. Tether claims it is the 17th-largest holder—and the largest non-sovereign holder—of U.S. debt, a fact that has unsettled some policymakers.
In July 2025, at the White House ceremony signing cryptocurrency legislation, the Winklevoss twins of Gemini, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Paolo Ardoino, and Commerce Secretary Lutnick spoke.
Carole House, former White House National Security Council special advisor for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure during the Biden administration, said: “Reports indicate Tether holds over $100 billion in U.S. Treasuries, making it one of the world’s largest holders—yet it faces none of the direct oversight applied to domestic institutions of comparable scale.”
Meanwhile, Treasury yields fund Tether’s recent investment deals. According to one insider, potential investors recently asked the company about the impact of falling interest rates. The source added that Tether estimates each 25-basis-point Fed rate cut requires issuing an additional $10 billion in tokens to maintain flat profitability.
At the same time, the U.S. market has seen a surge of competitors, and overall demand for USDT and other stablecoins has flattened in recent months—mirroring the broader crypto market’s decline. The International Monetary Fund warned in 2025 that stablecoin runs could trigger a sell-off in the Treasury market.
Nonetheless, Tether’s formidable capital base continues to attract new banking partners beyond Cantor Fitzgerald—the Lutnick family’s firm. Morgan Stanley, Brazil’s BTG Pactual, and First Abu Dhabi Bank have all advised Tether on financing, according to insiders. These banks declined to comment.
Further signs suggest the company is seeking traditional markers of legitimacy. Last year, Ardoino appointed Simon McWilliams as CFO. He also hired Ben Habbel as Chief Commercial Officer to formalize internal organizational structure; Habbel is a luxury real estate investor who recently acquired the Nobu Hotel in London’s Shoreditch district. A senior precious metals trader from HSBC has also joined to help manage its expanding gold reserves. Last year, Tether purchased 70 tons of gold—more than the publicly disclosed purchases of nearly all central banks.
With a relatively lean workforce, Tether may be the world’s most profitable company per employee. Ardoino proudly touts its streamlined structure and 99% profit margin. Even so, he acknowledges the need to scale up: staff numbers have tripled over the past 18 months and hiring continues. Its closest global competitor, Circle Internet Group, had about 880 employees in June 2024—when its stablecoin USDC had a circulating supply of just $32 billion.
Ardoino says compliance is Tether’s largest department, with nearly 50 staff members monitoring transactions and coordinating with law enforcement upon request. Even so, this team remains far smaller than those at banks—or even at some crypto competitors.
Beyond its core business, Tether’s leadership is known for its insularity. Ardoino and COO Claudia Lagorio are married, and several executives hold multiple roles across Tether and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex.
Paolo Ardoino at the Plan B Forum Bitcoin Conference in San Salvador in January
Even as it seeks new capital, Ardoino remains wary of letting more outsiders deeply penetrate Tether. When asked about going public, he recoils at the idea of quarterly reporting to investors. “I don’t want to spend every three months optimizing profits,” he said. “What I want to optimize is the company’s impact on society.”
Unlike many early-stage tech firms, insiders familiar with Tether’s compensation structure say most employees do not receive stock options. Even if Tether secures funding at a record-breaking private-company valuation, they stand to gain nothing. Its fundraising process has already slipped several months beyond initial expectations—but Ardoino says he isn’t in a rush. Given its massive profits, the company doesn’t need the money and can wait until it hits its target valuation.
Whether investors agree with Ardoino’s view of Tether—and humanity’s future—remains to be seen. But Tether’s ever-growing investment portfolio, its U.S. Treasury and gold reserves, and its ambitions to shape U.S. politics mean it can no longer be dismissed as a niche crypto product.
“A few years ago, there was no connection between crypto and traditional finance—that might not have been a problem,” said Professor Wilmarth of George Washington University. “But today, the situation is completely different. The interconnection is unprecedented.”
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