Tether eyes U.S. expansion with new stablecoin as CEO courts Washington crypto players

Tether eyes U.S. expansion with new stablecoin as CEO courts Washington crypto players


Tether CEO talks about the USDT and ensuring legal use

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is preparing to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin as soon as this year, as its CEO ramps up his presence in Washington to shape crypto regulation.

In an interview with CNBC this week, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the company is working on plans to issue a new dollar-pegged stablecoin in the U.S. as soon as this year. The move comes as Tether, once accused of being a criminal’s ‘go-to cryptocurrency’ – rebrands itself as a partner to American lawmakers and law enforcement.

“A domestic stablecoin would be different from the international stable coin,” Ardoino told CNBC’s Dan Murphy at the Token2049 conference in Dubai on Wednesday. “It depends on the timeline of the final legislation… but we are looking at that by the end of the year, or early next year at the fastest,” he said.

But the timing and tactics of that next step are raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

Ardoino’s recent charm offensive in Washington, which included private meetings with lawmakers, a Capitol Hill lunch with Senator Bill Hagerty and parties with crypto insiders, according to a New York Times report, has put a spotlight on Tether amid the pro-crypto shift under President Trump.

That influence may now be helping shape key legislation, including the GOP-backed GENIUS Act, which critics say includes loopholes that benefit Tether and other foreign issuers – such as provisions allowing operations in the U.S. if they agree to work with law enforcement.

The logos of the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and Binance Coin (BNB) can be seen on the trading platform CoinMarketCap.

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, has made legal cooperation key to its lobbying narrative despite a history of regulatory penalties.

“There is no company… even in the traditional financial system, that has such a breadth of collaboration with law enforcement,” Ardoino said. “We are always trying to do better and more to block criminal activity…. we have much better tools than the traditional financial system and we’re proving that everyday.”

Ardoino also addressed concerns about the firm’s ability to back its digital assets. In 2021, Tether settled with the New York attorney general for $18.5 million over allegations it lied about its reserves. It now publishes attestation reports and holds billions in U.S. Treasuries – managed by Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald – and Ardoino insists the business is well capitalised in the event of a market shock.

“We are very close to having $120 billion in U.S. Treasuries in our reserves,” he said. “We have $7 billion in excess equity within the company capital. That is really unprecedented and I wish financial institutions in the traditional financial system would at least try to copy us to provide better products for their consumers.”

Tether’s latest attestation report confirmed the firm holds about $120 billion in U.S. Treasuries. Its first quarter independent auditors’ report confirmed assets and reserves exceed liabilities by almost $5.6 billion, a decrease from more than $7 billion in its December audit. 

Tether’s partnership with Cantor, now run by the sons of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has also raised questions. Ardoino told CNBC he doesn’t speak with Secretary Lutnick “because there are proper walls given the potential conflict of interest,” but added “we have great relationships with many people in the U.S. and also now in Washington.” 

Eric Trump and his older brother Donald Trump Jr. recently announced plans to launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin through World Liberty Financial, the finance venture backed by President Donald Trump.



Source

Trade talks will be key next week for a market striving to leave tariff turmoil behind
World

Trade talks will be key next week for a market striving to leave tariff turmoil behind

Trade talks will continue to be critical in the week ahead, as equities mount an impressive rally on hopes the U.S. economy is strong enough to weather the fallout from Trump’s tariffs. The S & P 500 has made a huge comeback since the post-April 2 sell-off, recouping all its losses after the latest jobs […]

Read More
Trump aims to cut  billion from NASA budget, shifting  billion to Mars-focused missions
World

Trump aims to cut $6 billion from NASA budget, shifting $1 billion to Mars-focused missions

The Trump administration has floated a plan to trim about $6 billion from the budget of NASA, while allocating $1 billion of remaining funds to Mars-focused initiatives, aligning with an ambition long held by Elon Musk and his rocket maker SpaceX. A copy of the discretionary budget posted to the NASA website on Friday said […]

Read More
OPEC+ to meet on Saturday to set June output policy: Reuters
World

OPEC+ to meet on Saturday to set June output policy: Reuters

Logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on Saturday to decide whether to agree a further accelerated oil output hike for June or make a smaller increase as originally planned, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on […]

Read More