Written by: Connie Loizos
Compiled by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News
Original title: What Are the Most Profitable CEOs in the Crypto World Doing Right Now?
If you've been following the news recently, you might have noticed a trend over the past week. In addition to extensive coverage by Fortune and Bloomberg, Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of stablecoin company Tether, also gave exclusive interviews to Reuters and TechCrunch. Why is the founder of this controversial stablecoin suddenly launching a comprehensive media campaign?
The timing is no coincidence. This week, Tether launched a new product called USAT, its first fully compliant U.S. federal regulation stablecoin, issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, aiming to directly compete with Circle's USDC. Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments also launched its own stablecoin on Wednesday, joining the increasingly fierce battle with JPMorgan and PayPal.
This marks a significant shift. For years, Paolo Ardoino has stayed away from the U.S., evading investigations and prosecutions from regulators overseas. His company has often been labeled as "opaque" and "suspected of fraud," with The Economist even calling it a "dream for money launderers" last summer.
But in this week's video interview, Paolo Ardoino made it clear: those days are over. Tether is now meeting with White House officials, collaborating with the FBI and the Secret Service, and expects USAT to break Circle's monopoly in the U.S. market. (USAT is different from Tether's flagship USDT, which has a global circulation of $187 billion but does not comply with new U.S. regulatory requirements.) The 41-year-old Paolo Ardoino, interviewed at Tether's office in Lugano, Switzerland, spent over an hour explaining how the company is transitioning from a crypto player to mainstream acceptance.
Tether's momentum is indeed undeniable. Its USDT is essentially a blockchain-based digital dollar that can circulate cross-border without relying on a single institution, and its market cap exceeds the sum of all other stablecoins. It has about 536 million users and is growing by 30 million per quarter. "Its growth rate is more like Facebook than a typical fintech application," Paolo Ardoino said.
He believes that Tether's first-mover advantage is not only about market dominance but also about bringing change to people in countries with weak currencies. "Over the past five years, the Argentine peso has depreciated by 94.5% against the U.S. dollar," he pointed out. "The per capita daily income in Haiti is only $1.34. These people have never been covered by the traditional financial system."
"Tether has created the largest financial inclusion success story in human history," he added.
Paolo Ardoino is aware that more effort is needed to gain further trust. Last summer's report by The Economist didn't help—it revealed that Russian money launderer Yekaterina Zhdanova was涉嫌 using Tether to connect British drug trafficking gangs, Moscow hackers, sanctioned oligarchs, and Russian intelligence personnel.
When asked about the report, Paolo Ardoino downplayed it, calling the amount involved "a drop in the ocean." "The vast majority of USDT users are ordinary people," he said. "We have collaborated with nearly 300 law enforcement agencies in over 60 countries. iPhones and Toyota cars can also be used by bad actors, but that doesn't mean the products themselves are problematic."
He went further, stating that Tether's technology is more advantageous than cash in tracking illegal activities. "Hundreds of billions of cash flow globally, making it difficult for U.S. law enforcement to trace. But with USDT, we work with the Department of Justice, FBI, Secret Service, and hundreds of other agencies to quickly freeze funds."
According to him, Tether has frozen $3.5 billion in tokens, most of which belong to "users who were scammed or hacked." For example, in 2023, in a "pig butchering" scam that the traditional financial system failed to detect, Tether "in the blink of an eye" identified and froze $225 million. ("Pig butchering" refers to scammers building trust or even online romantic connections to lure victims into fake investments.)
"We work closely with the FBI and Secret Service, strictly adhering to OFAC sanctions," he said.
It remains unclear whether critics are satisfied, but Tether has indeed weathered one crisis after another. Three months ago, S&P Global Ratings still pointed out that USDT's stability was weak.
Paolo Ardoino dismissed this: "If this is the same S&P that completely failed to predict the subprime mortgage crisis, then I'm proud that they consider us 'weak.'"
He mentioned the spring of 2022, when another major stablecoin, TerraLuna, suddenly collapsed, evaporating $40 billion overnight and causing market panic. Hedge funds bet that Tether would be next, and users rushed to redeem. "We redeemed $7 billion in 48 hours—10% of our reserves; $20 billion in 20 days—25% of our reserves. No bank in the world could withstand such a run, but we did."
He hinted that another competitor (clearly referring to Circle) performed poorly during the banking crisis. When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023, Circle's disclosure of a $3 billion exposure caused USDC to briefly depeg. When asked about Circle, often portrayed as a "cleaner alternative," Paolo Ardoino's PR team quickly interrupted, and he only reluctantly said, "If you don't bow to Wall Street, others will look at you differently."
Paolo Ardoino emphasized that Tether currently holds $30 billion in excess reserves, far more than needed for redemptions. These reserves are custodied by Cantor Fitzgerald—a Wall Street firm led for over thirty years by Howard Lutnick, who became U.S. Secretary of Commerce a year ago. Lutnick has publicly endorsed Tether, and the company earns substantial fees for managing Tether's massive Treasury assets, creating an intertwining of business interests and policy influence.
Paolo Ardoino believes that Tether is safer than traditional banks. "Banks operate on a 90% fractional reserve system: if you deposit $1 million, only $100,000 stays in the bank, and $900,000 is lent out. Even if Bitcoin goes to zero, we hold enough funds to cover all issued USDT."
Massive reserves bring massive profits. Fortune reported that Tether's 2025 profits exceeded $15 billion, primarily from reserve earnings—unlike savings accounts, these interests are not shared with USDT holders. When asked if he would consider sharing interest, Paolo Ardoino said that while U.S. users are accustomed to interest, Tether's core users prioritize value preservation.
"The Turkish lira has depreciated by 81% against the U.S. dollar over five years, and the Argentine peso by 94.5%. For someone whose currency depreciates by 3% daily, a 4% annualized interest is meaningless. For the rest of the world, a dollar stablecoin is like a savings account; for Americans, it's more like a checking account."
Tether's decision not to share profits may also have legal considerations. The CLARITY Act, advancing in Congress, could prohibit stablecoin issuers from paying interest to holders to prevent deposits from flowing out of traditional banks. If passed, this would solidify Tether's existing model while打击 competitors like Circle that尝试 reward programs.
Beyond Stablecoins
Paolo Ardoino's ambitions extend far beyond USDT. In 2020, Tether launched Tether Gold, a gold-backed token with a circulation of $2.6 billion, equivalent to users holding gold of the same value. But Tether's gold strategy is even grander: as revealed in a Bloomberg interview, the company holds about 140 tons of gold, worth approximately $24 billion, making it one of the world's largest private gold holders.
Why launch a gold product? Paolo Ardoino said it's to provide options in an uncertain world. "Gold is humanity's earliest widespread form of money. With blockchain, we can for the first time make gold not just a store of value but also a medium of exchange."
When the product was launched, "we were almost considered crazy," he recalled. Since then, Tether has been buying gold at a rate of 1-2 tons per week, with Ardoino calling it "building one of the world's largest gold central banks."
But the company's investment in AI reveals an even grander vision. About nine months ago, Tether launched Qvac, a decentralized AI platform named after Asimov's short story 'The Last Question'—which Paolo Ardoino considers "the greatest sci-fi work."
His positioning of Qvac aligns with USDT: serving overlooked populations. "USDT never targeted JPMorgan's clients; we serve those abandoned by traditional finance." He said centralized AI platforms would also miss billions of users unable to afford subscriptions.
"If they can't afford a $150 annual bank account, they certainly can't afford expensive AI platforms." Qvac will be able to run locally on smartphones. Ardoino predicts that within three to five years, today's high-performance smartphones will be普及 in Africa and South America, covering 80% of AI use cases. "USDT will empower the world's largest decentralized AI platform."
Even so, Qvac is just one part of a grand strategy. Fortune reported that Tether has invested over $1 billion in German AI robotics company Neura, $775 million in social media platform Rumble, and hundreds of millions more in satellites, data centers, agriculture, and other fields. The magazine described Tether as transforming into a "sovereign wealth fund-like" entity.
From the outside, these investments—including stakes in the Juventus football club—seem unrelated. But Paolo Ardoino insists they are intrinsically consistent: "Tether's purpose is 'stability.' We invest in land, livestock, agriculture, modern technology, gold... The common goal is to ensure Tether remains the cornerstone of our users' world."
He描绘了一个互联系统: digitizing agriculture, revolutionizing gold markets, and peer-to-peer communication. "We want to build a company that stands the test of time, becoming a social impact enterprise that changes the lives of hundreds of millions, providing them with 'stability' they've never had."
When asked about political risks—if the next U.S. administration views Tether as a threat like the previous one—Paolo Ardoino said they are prepared.
"I hope financial inclusion, connecting 536 million people to the dollar system, is a bipartisan concern. This requires education."
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