Tether scales up with eccentric VC portfolio and aggressive hiring plan: report

Tether has built a portfolio of 140 investments spanning sectors from South American agriculture to a stake in Italian football club Juventus, according to a Financial Times report.

Summary

• Tether holds 140 investments, from agriculture to Juventus, funded by USDT profits.
• The stablecoin giant plans 150 new hires as it builds a global “freedom tech stack.”
• Political ties and a $500B valuation push raise scrutiny over transparency and audits.

The world’s largest stablecoin issuer expanded its workforce to 300 employees and plans to add another 150 staff over the next 18 months, mostly engineers.

CEO Paolo Ardoino presented Tether’s vision at a recent San Salvador conference, describing plans for a “freedom tech stack” across finance, intelligence, communications and energy.

USDT market value reached $185 billion from $5 billion in 2020, serving 500 million users as the main bridge between cryptocurrency and dollars.

The company generates tens of billions of dollars in annual profit from returns on assets backing USDT, which it retains rather than distributing to token holders.

Hiring spans AI filmmakers to regulatory affairs leads

Tether’s expansion extends beyond engineering roles. LinkedIn job listings show openings for AI filmmakers in Italy, venture investment associates in the United Arab Emirates, and regulatory affairs leads in Ghana and Brazil.

The company registered in El Salvador with a base in Switzerland operates through a small executive circle that has shaped its direction.

A new London-based team now oversees finance and operations under chief financial officer Simon McWilliams. Employees work with limited visibility into other teams outside occasional gatherings in El Salvador or Lugano.

Conference exhibits displayed products including MOS bitcoin mining operating system, QVAC platform for AI agents, and WDK wallets enabling AI agents to accept Tether.

Investments include $775 million in Rumble, the right-leaning YouTube challenger that hosts Truth Social through its cloud service.

Tether shifted headquarters to El Salvador last year, welcomed by pro-crypto president Nayib Bukele.

Previous bases included Isle of Man and British Virgin Islands. The company is building an office tower in El Salvador where executives maintain close relationships with the Bukele administration.

Trump administration ties raise scrutiny ahead of funding round

Tether maintains close ties to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose bank Cantor Fitzgerald serves as custodian for Tether’s US Treasury holdings and holds an investment in the company.

Brandon Lutnick, who succeeded his father as bank chair, attended the El Salvador conference and called Ardoino “one of Cantor’s closest partners and a close personal friend.”

The company hired experienced American lobbyists and recruited former Trump administration members for its US expansion.

A $15 billion to $20 billion funding round targeting $500 billion valuation faced pushback from some investors.

Tether publishes quarterly attestations from accounting firm BDO Italia but does not provide full audits.

A 2021 settlement with state and federal authorities addressed claims Tether misrepresented assets backing USDT’s dollar peg.

New York District Attorney and State Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers raising concerns that Tether provides law enforcement assistance only in limited circumstances.

Tether said it works closely with American enforcement agencies voluntarily despite lacking blanket legal obligations that bind US-regulated financial institutions.