Stablecoin giant Tether has engaged audit firm KPMG, one of the "Big Four," to verify its reserves — including a physical count of approximately 150 tons of gold in a Swiss vault. The audit confirmed: the gold is in place, and the total reserves exceed liabilities by $6.8 billion.
"It was a physically heavy exercise," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino commented on the audit in an interview with Fortune.
The journalists emphasized that the audit was meant to put an end to one of the longest-standing conspiracy theories in the crypto world: that USDT is not properly backed and the company would one day execute a massive cancellation.
Tether no longer considers itself a crypto company
"We have long ceased to consider ourselves a crypto company. I think we are a digital dollar and digital gold company," Ardoino stated.
According to him, Tether has over 650 million users worldwide, with the majority concentrated in Africa and South America — regions where governments have repeatedly devalued national currencies and where demand for stable digital assets is particularly high.
The company has been actively investing outside of financial services for two years now: in decentralized communications, agriculture, and a network of solar-powered kiosks providing autonomous electricity supply for a few dollars a month, the statement says.
Artificial Intelligence and Tether
Tether's next strategic direction is core AI services for its audience in developing countries. Ardoino notes that even in the poorest countries, almost everyone has a mobile phone that can run a simple AI model. The goal is not cutting-edge models, but affordable basic tools across several verticals: healthcare, finance, sports, and others.
The business model involves payment of a few dollars per month via the Tether stablecoin or another form of digital payment.
Paolo Ardoino noted that his primary concern is the transformation of already high income inequality in society, which undermines its stability, into a significantly deeper chasm — where the wealth gap is multiplied by an intellectual gap as well.
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