World's largest stablecoin issuer eyes $500 billion valuation

Tether Holdings SA, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is in talks with investors to raise as much as $20 billion, a deal that could catapult the cryptocurrency firm into the ranks of the world’s most valuable private companies.

Tether, based in El Salvador, is seeking to raise $15 billion to $20 billion through a private placement of about 3% of its shares, according to two people familiar with the matter. Another person involved in the process said those are the highest targets and the final figure could be significantly lower. Talks are at an early stage and terms could change.

If completed, the deal would value Tether at around $500 billion, putting it in line with the likes of OpenAI and SpaceX – a significant step for the low-regulated cryptocurrency company, amid rising competition and a potentially eroding windfall from U.S. interest rates. Tether’s biggest rival, Circle Internet Group – the publicly traded issuer of the USDC stablecoin – is currently valued at around $30 billion.

CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed that Tether is considering raising capital from a large group of investors “to expand the company’s strategic scale across all existing and new sectors” such as stablecoins, artificial intelligence (AI), commodities trading, energy, telecommunications and media.

Tether is a leader in the stablecoin space – a digital asset whose value is tied to fiat currencies. The company’s USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar, currently has a market value of $172 billion, far surpassing Circle’s rival USDC, which is valued at $74 billion.

Tether makes a lot of money by parking the reserves backing USDT in cash equivalents like U.S. government bonds, earning interest. In the second quarter, the company recorded $4.9 billion in profits, according to a July blog post. Mr. Ardoino recently claimed that Tether’s profit margin was as high as 99%—though those figures are not subject to the reporting standards of a publicly traded company.

After a legal hiatus from the US – including a $41 million fine in 2021 for allegedly misrepresenting its reserves – Tether is looking to make a comeback to capitalise on President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly policies. The company has just announced plans to launch a regulatory-compliant stablecoin in the US and appointed Bo Hines, a former White House official in charge of digital currencies, to lead the project.

Potential investors have been given access to the data to evaluate the opportunity to participate in recent weeks, and the deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

Source: https://vtv.vn/cong-ty-phat-hanh-dong-stablecoin-lon-nhat-the-gioi-huong-toi-muc-dinh-gia-500-ty-usd-100250925093131776.htm