Author: William M. Peaster Source: Bankless Translator: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance
According to data from DefiLlama, Tether's stablecoin USDT currently has a market capitalization of over $156 billion, which is more than double that of its competitor Circle's USDC (over $60 billion).
In this market-dominated situation, the two major news events that occurred this month make this trend even more intriguing:
Circle's Heavyweight IPO: After going public, the stock price soared, reaching a market value of $60 billion.
GENIUS Stablecoin Bill advances in the U.S. Congress: This bill establishes specific standards for stablecoin issuers, while USDT has not yet fully met these standards.
In this context, Bankless interviewed Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino to discuss the changes in the regulatory environment and his views on the rise of major competitors in the U.S. market.
In the context of this new legislation and market game, how will Tether, as the world's largest stablecoin, respond? What new moves is the company currently brewing? Here are the 5 key highlights worth paying attention to from the interview.
Huge Profits
Ardoino stated that Tether's profits last year reached 13.7 billion dollars.
This figure places Tether among the most profitable companies in the world, surpassing Morgan Stanley ($13.4 billion), Mastercard ($12.9 billion), and Citibank ($12.5 billion).
A significant portion of the profits comes from harvesting the yields of U.S. Treasury bonds — Tether is currently one of the world's largest buyers of U.S. Treasuries.
GENIUS Act Compliance
Although USDT has not yet fully met the core standards for stablecoin issuers set by the GENIUS Act, Ardoino stated that Tether will look for a way forward.
In an interview, he revealed that Tether will comply with the GENIUS Act standards as a foreign issuer through an "equivalence" approach for USDT. At the same time, Tether is also planning to launch a new type of stablecoin specifically designed for the US market, focusing on programmability and utility.
Ardoino bluntly stated that the U.S. market will resemble a "race for profits" in the future, while emerging markets have greater growth potential for stablecoins — this implies that Tether is likely to outperform Circle in the upcoming market narrative.
4 trillion USD market cap?
Despite Circle's popularity on Wall Street after its IPO, Tether has no intention of going public for financing. Ardoino made it clear that Tether does not need external capital, and the founding team has no plans to exit.
He welcomed Circle's listing and mentioned that Circle's currently high price-to-earnings ratio only makes Tether more convincing—according to Circle's current price-to-earnings ratio, if Tether were to go public, its market value is expected to exceed 4 trillion dollars.
Mining Advantages
Ardoino stated that Tether will soon become one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the world. The company currently holds over 100,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and venturing into mining is a natural next step to protect and appreciate these assets while maintaining network security.
Ardoino stated more directly: "In 99% of cases, buying Bitcoin is a better choice." However, Tether's investment in mining is aimed at long-term synergy — if you already hold billions of dollars in Bitcoin, you naturally want to be personally involved in building network security.
This approach is more akin to the logic of a sovereign state rather than that of a traditional company — Tether is building its own stablecoin issuance + mining infrastructure, positioning itself as a "sovereign" pillar within the cryptocurrency economy.
Tether Wallet Plan?
Ardoino revealed that Tether is developing an open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) and hinted that it may launch its own branded wallet later this year.
The goal is to build a cross-chain, multi-chain, fee-optimized wallet that can automatically select the chain with lower fees for transactions, specifically designed for emerging markets and machine users.
Ardoino has made bold predictions about the future: AI agents can natively access wallets, for instance, your smart refrigerator could contain USDT, and when it needs to restock, it can make payments autonomously. He emphasized that Tether is building a large-scale non-custodial wallet ecosystem aimed at both ordinary people and machines – adaptable from $30 smartphones to industrial IoT devices.
Tether is one of the most profitable companies in the world and continues to invest in new directions, consolidating its long-term dominance in the cryptocurrency ecosystem - not just a giant in stablecoins, but also the helmsman of the global digital dollar interaction track.
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Bankless: Tether's Big Move
Author: William M. Peaster Source: Bankless Translator: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance
According to data from DefiLlama, Tether's stablecoin USDT currently has a market capitalization of over $156 billion, which is more than double that of its competitor Circle's USDC (over $60 billion).
In this market-dominated situation, the two major news events that occurred this month make this trend even more intriguing:
In this context, Bankless interviewed Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino to discuss the changes in the regulatory environment and his views on the rise of major competitors in the U.S. market.
In the context of this new legislation and market game, how will Tether, as the world's largest stablecoin, respond? What new moves is the company currently brewing? Here are the 5 key highlights worth paying attention to from the interview.
Huge Profits
Ardoino stated that Tether's profits last year reached 13.7 billion dollars.
This figure places Tether among the most profitable companies in the world, surpassing Morgan Stanley ($13.4 billion), Mastercard ($12.9 billion), and Citibank ($12.5 billion).
A significant portion of the profits comes from harvesting the yields of U.S. Treasury bonds — Tether is currently one of the world's largest buyers of U.S. Treasuries.
GENIUS Act Compliance
Although USDT has not yet fully met the core standards for stablecoin issuers set by the GENIUS Act, Ardoino stated that Tether will look for a way forward.
In an interview, he revealed that Tether will comply with the GENIUS Act standards as a foreign issuer through an "equivalence" approach for USDT. At the same time, Tether is also planning to launch a new type of stablecoin specifically designed for the US market, focusing on programmability and utility.
Ardoino bluntly stated that the U.S. market will resemble a "race for profits" in the future, while emerging markets have greater growth potential for stablecoins — this implies that Tether is likely to outperform Circle in the upcoming market narrative.
4 trillion USD market cap?
Despite Circle's popularity on Wall Street after its IPO, Tether has no intention of going public for financing. Ardoino made it clear that Tether does not need external capital, and the founding team has no plans to exit.
He welcomed Circle's listing and mentioned that Circle's currently high price-to-earnings ratio only makes Tether more convincing—according to Circle's current price-to-earnings ratio, if Tether were to go public, its market value is expected to exceed 4 trillion dollars.
Mining Advantages
Ardoino stated that Tether will soon become one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the world. The company currently holds over 100,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and venturing into mining is a natural next step to protect and appreciate these assets while maintaining network security.
Ardoino stated more directly: "In 99% of cases, buying Bitcoin is a better choice." However, Tether's investment in mining is aimed at long-term synergy — if you already hold billions of dollars in Bitcoin, you naturally want to be personally involved in building network security.
This approach is more akin to the logic of a sovereign state rather than that of a traditional company — Tether is building its own stablecoin issuance + mining infrastructure, positioning itself as a "sovereign" pillar within the cryptocurrency economy.
Tether Wallet Plan?
Ardoino revealed that Tether is developing an open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) and hinted that it may launch its own branded wallet later this year.
The goal is to build a cross-chain, multi-chain, fee-optimized wallet that can automatically select the chain with lower fees for transactions, specifically designed for emerging markets and machine users.
Ardoino has made bold predictions about the future: AI agents can natively access wallets, for instance, your smart refrigerator could contain USDT, and when it needs to restock, it can make payments autonomously. He emphasized that Tether is building a large-scale non-custodial wallet ecosystem aimed at both ordinary people and machines – adaptable from $30 smartphones to industrial IoT devices.
Tether is one of the most profitable companies in the world and continues to invest in new directions, consolidating its long-term dominance in the cryptocurrency ecosystem - not just a giant in stablecoins, but also the helmsman of the global digital dollar interaction track.