Author: Bridget Harris Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow
In 2024, Tether generated a profit of 14 billion dollars with only 150 employees, which means each employee contributed 93 million dollars. This astonishing efficiency has led many to believe that Tether might be the most efficiently operated company in the world.
So, how did this #stablecoin company achieve this feat?
Tether made a profit of $14 billion last year, surpassing Pfizer, Tesla, and BlackRock. And all of this was achieved without relying on advertising or a large number of employees, but solely on a product that many might not have paid much attention to - stablecoin #USDT.
Today, the circulation of USDT has reached 147 billion dollars, far ahead of other stablecoins, making it the most widely used stablecoin in the world. Moreover, Tether is also the seventh largest buyer in #Artificial Intelligence, even surpassing countries and regions such as Canada, Taiwan, and Norway.
Whenever someone buys USDT, Tether uses the cash received to generate profits, with these funds primarily invested in U.S. Treasury bonds.
In 2024, Tether became the seventh largest buyer of** U.S. Treasury**** securities, surpassing countries like Canada, Taiwan, and Norway.** Moreover, its growth rate is still accelerating: last year, the total issuance of USDT reached $45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 57%, while the user growth of USDT in the first quarter of 2025 was 13%.
Although Tether has been known for its low profile in the past, as the regulatory environment in the United States shifts in its favor, the company is now beginning to share its future vision more openly.
Stablecoins are essentially digital dollars issued on a blockchain, pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio. They provide an effective means for global access to US dollars, serving both as a savings tool and significantly enhancing the efficiency of capital flow, especially in cross-border payments.
The second-ranked stablecoin is #Circle's USDC, with a circulation of 62 billion USD, which is less than half of USDT. USDC focuses more on payment compliance and institutional adoption. Unlike USDT, which dominates limited international markets for acquiring USD, USDC - initially launched by Coinbase and Circle - is more popular in the US market.
The CEO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, is a 40-year-old Italian computer scientist who describes himself as a "simple person" and is indifferent to competitors.
He stated in an interview with Forbes earlier this month: "They do not represent the true use case for stablecoins."
In his view, the core value of stablecoins lies in providing a reliable and practically usable currency for people in economically unstable countries. For example, individuals in countries like Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria. These regions face rapid depreciation of their local currencies, making savings nearly impossible, hence there is an urgent need to acquire US dollars.
Although the main use case of USDT is still concentrated in emerging markets, Paul is also exploring the launch of a locally-based stablecoin specifically aimed at U.S. institutions.
"How 'interesting' will this be for our competitors?" he joked in an interview with Forbes.
One of the special aspects of Tether's business is its partnership with the legendary American financial institution Cantor Fitzgerald. A few years ago, when other American companies were unwilling to engage with Tether, Cantor became its banking partner. At that time, Tether was controversial due to the inclusion of Chinese corporate bonds in part of the reserves backing USDT.
Despite various controversies, Cantor took the risk of partnering with Tether. Recently, Cantor purchased 5% of Tether's shares for $600 million, which is clearly at a significant discount. This move may partly be to thank Cantor for its early support. Notably, Cantor's former chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick is currently serving as the Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration.
At a recent Bitcoin conference, in response to external criticism of Tether, Rutnik said: "They say Tether is owned by the Chinese. In fact, it is owned by Giancarlo, who is Italian, and there is a difference between the two."
(Note: Giancarlo is the Chief Financial Officer of Tether and owns approximately 47% of Tether's shares. Source: Forbes)
What is the close relationship between Tether and Cantor, and what is the reason behind this promotional deal? — The secret lies in Cantor's special identity: it is one of the only 24 primary dealers in the United States that can trade directly with the Federal Reserve.
In practical terms, this means that if a large number of users attempt to exchange USDT for US dollars, Tether can immediately meet the demand. As a primary dealer, Cantor assists the Federal Reserve in maintaining liquidity in the government bond market, which gives Cantor a direct channel to trade with the Federal Reserve. When Tether needs cash, Cantor can sell U.S. Treasury bonds directly to the Federal Reserve without delay and without intermediaries.
In other words, Tether has gained the ability to instantly access US dollars through the safest and most liquid assets in the world. This "firepower" is unattainable by any other stablecoin issuer.
Tether's strong position is not a coincidence. In 2022, Tether was attacked by Sam Bankman-Fried and his company FTX. They attempted to trigger a bank run-like crisis by accumulating billions of USDT and selling it off within just two days. Ultimately, Tether successfully managed a redemption demand of up to $7 billion—equivalent to 10% of the circulating supply at that time.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pointed out in a recent episode of Odd Lots that a 10% run on most financial institutions within 48 hours would be enough to cause bankruptcy, yet Tether remains "unscathed."
In a sense, Tether also has a certain resistance to fluctuations in U.S. Treasury yields: typically, when interest rates decline, economic activity increases, which drives the growth of Tether's deposits and the circulation of USDT (although yields may decrease, more funds can still bring considerable returns). Conversely, when interest rates rise, Tether can directly enhance profits through higher reserve yields.
Although the two may not completely offset each other, this structural dynamic is an advantage for Tether.
Critics of Tether often accuse the company of never undergoing a formal audit and speculate that USDT may be used for crime and money laundering. In response, Paolo often cites some cases showing that illegal funds can often flow undetected through banks, credit card networks, and payment processors, only to be flagged and frozen once they enter the Tether system. Tether has assisted in over 400 law enforcement actions in the United States to date and has collaborated with 230 agencies from 50 countries.
Paul also believes that in regions like South America and Africa, Tether is actually the last line of defense in the process of dollarization. In these areas, "there's almost no sign of the United States," he mentioned on the "Odd Lots" program, "except for McDonald's."
"In these places, hospitals, schools, libraries, and airports are all built by China," Paul said. He also mentioned that China is promoting a gold-backed digital currency to pay all the workers on these infrastructure projects. If successful, this initiative will threaten the dollar's status as the reserve currency and ultimately weaken the United States' global political influence.
In villages in Africa, Tether is building a small site with solar panels for people to rent batteries for 3 USDT per month. In these regions, electricity resources are extremely scarce, and 600 million people do not have access to reliable electricity supplies. Considering that the average monthly salary in these villages is around $80, this 3 USDT subscription service is very cost-effective for local residents. Similar initiatives have emerged in South America, where small stores have begun accepting USDT payments. These channels not only serve as a grassroots distribution mechanism for USDT (which is beneficial to Tether's business growth), but also invisibly promote the global influence of the US dollar (good news for the US government).
Tether's ambitions are not limited to the stablecoin business. The company has also invested in artificial intelligence data centers, such as Northern Data, which has 24,000 GPUs. Additionally, Tether is developing a peer-to-peer (P2P) chat application called Keet.
Historically, the main problem with peer-to-peer apps has been poor user experience, and Tether is working to address that. **We are looking for a solution to the user experience (UX) problem and ultimately hope to achieve the same user experience as WhatsApp – but entirely P2P," Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said via a Zoom meeting. The Holepunch protocol, which supports Keet, is actually a widely applicable peer-to-peer standard that can be used to build multiple decentralized systems.
"What if we could suddenly build a range of applications – from social media to messaging to enterprise – that would reduce infrastructure costs by 97 percent, improve privacy, and ensure that data belongs to its real users?"
In addition, Tether has developed a platform called Hadron for asset tokenization; launched a self-custodial open-source wallet; and invested in a brain-computer interface company.
In terms of employee numbers, the Tether team is not large, with only 150 people, but their loyalty is very high. "When we went through the toughest times, not a single person on my team left," Paul mentioned at a Cantor crypto conference.
He partly attributes this to Tether having primarily employed talent from emerging markets. "They know what really matters... They are willing to work for us because they see that we are truly trying to address the real problems they face, rather than the problems that the wealthy world thinks they have," Paul explained.
Paul believes that Tether is a once-in-a-century company because it can "separate the creation of excellent technology from the demand for profit." In other words, the company can focus on innovation (not limited to USDT) without worrying about short-term profit pressures. With the substantial income generated by USDT, Tether has the ability to develop "the craziest technologies" without the urgency to profit from them.
"We will use the technology we developed as a distribution layer to support our 'golden goose' - USDT. I believe no other company can do this," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in an interview.
"The more our technology empowers users, the more successful our core products will be. This is fundamentally different from traditional tech companies - they often need to trap users in a cage to sell more products."
One of the most reassuring parts of the Tether story is that its leadership has never forgotten the original intention of cryptocurrency. "Institutions will betray you for the sake of a basis point ((0.01%)," Paul mentioned in the Odd Lots program. This attitude was once a consensus in the entire crypto community during the early days of the industry, but it has gradually been forgotten. The original intention of cryptocurrency was to shift power from exploitative institutions back to individuals.
Interestingly, one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the crypto space today remains true to these original principles, while those who abandon their初心 in pursuit of money often end up failing, or even behind bars. It is also rare for such a profitable company to be able to genuinely help its user base: those who previously had no access to stable currencies in emerging markets. All of this stems from Paul's sincere belief: "I hope Tether is seen as... a positive contribution to the world."
Speaking about his vision for Tether, Paul said, "The past 20 years have been very good for the Western world, but I don't think the next 10 to 15 years will be as stable for the Western world. We are a stablecoin company... but perhaps we are more of a 'stability company'. Our technology is designed to bring stability to society, and this stability can start with currency."
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150 people created 14 billion dollars in profit Tether's alchemy
Author: Bridget Harris Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow
In 2024, Tether generated a profit of 14 billion dollars with only 150 employees, which means each employee contributed 93 million dollars. This astonishing efficiency has led many to believe that Tether might be the most efficiently operated company in the world.
So, how did this #stablecoin company achieve this feat?
Tether made a profit of $14 billion last year, surpassing Pfizer, Tesla, and BlackRock. And all of this was achieved without relying on advertising or a large number of employees, but solely on a product that many might not have paid much attention to - stablecoin #USDT.
Today, the circulation of USDT has reached 147 billion dollars, far ahead of other stablecoins, making it the most widely used stablecoin in the world. Moreover, Tether is also the seventh largest buyer in #Artificial Intelligence, even surpassing countries and regions such as Canada, Taiwan, and Norway.
Whenever someone buys USDT, Tether uses the cash received to generate profits, with these funds primarily invested in U.S. Treasury bonds.
In 2024, Tether became the seventh largest buyer of** U.S. Treasury**** securities, surpassing countries like Canada, Taiwan, and Norway.** Moreover, its growth rate is still accelerating: last year, the total issuance of USDT reached $45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 57%, while the user growth of USDT in the first quarter of 2025 was 13%.
Although Tether has been known for its low profile in the past, as the regulatory environment in the United States shifts in its favor, the company is now beginning to share its future vision more openly.
Stablecoins are essentially digital dollars issued on a blockchain, pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio. They provide an effective means for global access to US dollars, serving both as a savings tool and significantly enhancing the efficiency of capital flow, especially in cross-border payments.
The second-ranked stablecoin is #Circle's USDC, with a circulation of 62 billion USD, which is less than half of USDT. USDC focuses more on payment compliance and institutional adoption. Unlike USDT, which dominates limited international markets for acquiring USD, USDC - initially launched by Coinbase and Circle - is more popular in the US market.
The CEO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, is a 40-year-old Italian computer scientist who describes himself as a "simple person" and is indifferent to competitors.
He stated in an interview with Forbes earlier this month: "They do not represent the true use case for stablecoins."
In his view, the core value of stablecoins lies in providing a reliable and practically usable currency for people in economically unstable countries. For example, individuals in countries like Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria. These regions face rapid depreciation of their local currencies, making savings nearly impossible, hence there is an urgent need to acquire US dollars.
Although the main use case of USDT is still concentrated in emerging markets, Paul is also exploring the launch of a locally-based stablecoin specifically aimed at U.S. institutions.
"How 'interesting' will this be for our competitors?" he joked in an interview with Forbes.
One of the special aspects of Tether's business is its partnership with the legendary American financial institution Cantor Fitzgerald. A few years ago, when other American companies were unwilling to engage with Tether, Cantor became its banking partner. At that time, Tether was controversial due to the inclusion of Chinese corporate bonds in part of the reserves backing USDT.
Despite various controversies, Cantor took the risk of partnering with Tether. Recently, Cantor purchased 5% of Tether's shares for $600 million, which is clearly at a significant discount. This move may partly be to thank Cantor for its early support. Notably, Cantor's former chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick is currently serving as the Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration.
At a recent Bitcoin conference, in response to external criticism of Tether, Rutnik said: "They say Tether is owned by the Chinese. In fact, it is owned by Giancarlo, who is Italian, and there is a difference between the two."
(Note: Giancarlo is the Chief Financial Officer of Tether and owns approximately 47% of Tether's shares. Source: Forbes)
What is the close relationship between Tether and Cantor, and what is the reason behind this promotional deal? — The secret lies in Cantor's special identity: it is one of the only 24 primary dealers in the United States that can trade directly with the Federal Reserve.
In practical terms, this means that if a large number of users attempt to exchange USDT for US dollars, Tether can immediately meet the demand. As a primary dealer, Cantor assists the Federal Reserve in maintaining liquidity in the government bond market, which gives Cantor a direct channel to trade with the Federal Reserve. When Tether needs cash, Cantor can sell U.S. Treasury bonds directly to the Federal Reserve without delay and without intermediaries.
In other words, Tether has gained the ability to instantly access US dollars through the safest and most liquid assets in the world. This "firepower" is unattainable by any other stablecoin issuer.
Tether's strong position is not a coincidence. In 2022, Tether was attacked by Sam Bankman-Fried and his company FTX. They attempted to trigger a bank run-like crisis by accumulating billions of USDT and selling it off within just two days. Ultimately, Tether successfully managed a redemption demand of up to $7 billion—equivalent to 10% of the circulating supply at that time.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pointed out in a recent episode of Odd Lots that a 10% run on most financial institutions within 48 hours would be enough to cause bankruptcy, yet Tether remains "unscathed."
In a sense, Tether also has a certain resistance to fluctuations in U.S. Treasury yields: typically, when interest rates decline, economic activity increases, which drives the growth of Tether's deposits and the circulation of USDT (although yields may decrease, more funds can still bring considerable returns). Conversely, when interest rates rise, Tether can directly enhance profits through higher reserve yields.
Although the two may not completely offset each other, this structural dynamic is an advantage for Tether.
Critics of Tether often accuse the company of never undergoing a formal audit and speculate that USDT may be used for crime and money laundering. In response, Paolo often cites some cases showing that illegal funds can often flow undetected through banks, credit card networks, and payment processors, only to be flagged and frozen once they enter the Tether system. Tether has assisted in over 400 law enforcement actions in the United States to date and has collaborated with 230 agencies from 50 countries.
Paul also believes that in regions like South America and Africa, Tether is actually the last line of defense in the process of dollarization. In these areas, "there's almost no sign of the United States," he mentioned on the "Odd Lots" program, "except for McDonald's."
"In these places, hospitals, schools, libraries, and airports are all built by China," Paul said. He also mentioned that China is promoting a gold-backed digital currency to pay all the workers on these infrastructure projects. If successful, this initiative will threaten the dollar's status as the reserve currency and ultimately weaken the United States' global political influence.
In villages in Africa, Tether is building a small site with solar panels for people to rent batteries for 3 USDT per month. In these regions, electricity resources are extremely scarce, and 600 million people do not have access to reliable electricity supplies. Considering that the average monthly salary in these villages is around $80, this 3 USDT subscription service is very cost-effective for local residents. Similar initiatives have emerged in South America, where small stores have begun accepting USDT payments. These channels not only serve as a grassroots distribution mechanism for USDT (which is beneficial to Tether's business growth), but also invisibly promote the global influence of the US dollar (good news for the US government).
Tether's ambitions are not limited to the stablecoin business. The company has also invested in artificial intelligence data centers, such as Northern Data, which has 24,000 GPUs. Additionally, Tether is developing a peer-to-peer (P2P) chat application called Keet.
Historically, the main problem with peer-to-peer apps has been poor user experience, and Tether is working to address that. **We are looking for a solution to the user experience (UX) problem and ultimately hope to achieve the same user experience as WhatsApp – but entirely P2P," Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said via a Zoom meeting. The Holepunch protocol, which supports Keet, is actually a widely applicable peer-to-peer standard that can be used to build multiple decentralized systems.
"What if we could suddenly build a range of applications – from social media to messaging to enterprise – that would reduce infrastructure costs by 97 percent, improve privacy, and ensure that data belongs to its real users?"
In addition, Tether has developed a platform called Hadron for asset tokenization; launched a self-custodial open-source wallet; and invested in a brain-computer interface company.
In terms of employee numbers, the Tether team is not large, with only 150 people, but their loyalty is very high. "When we went through the toughest times, not a single person on my team left," Paul mentioned at a Cantor crypto conference.
He partly attributes this to Tether having primarily employed talent from emerging markets. "They know what really matters... They are willing to work for us because they see that we are truly trying to address the real problems they face, rather than the problems that the wealthy world thinks they have," Paul explained.
Paul believes that Tether is a once-in-a-century company because it can "separate the creation of excellent technology from the demand for profit." In other words, the company can focus on innovation (not limited to USDT) without worrying about short-term profit pressures. With the substantial income generated by USDT, Tether has the ability to develop "the craziest technologies" without the urgency to profit from them.
"We will use the technology we developed as a distribution layer to support our 'golden goose' - USDT. I believe no other company can do this," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in an interview.
"The more our technology empowers users, the more successful our core products will be. This is fundamentally different from traditional tech companies - they often need to trap users in a cage to sell more products."
One of the most reassuring parts of the Tether story is that its leadership has never forgotten the original intention of cryptocurrency. "Institutions will betray you for the sake of a basis point ((0.01%)," Paul mentioned in the Odd Lots program. This attitude was once a consensus in the entire crypto community during the early days of the industry, but it has gradually been forgotten. The original intention of cryptocurrency was to shift power from exploitative institutions back to individuals.
Interestingly, one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the crypto space today remains true to these original principles, while those who abandon their初心 in pursuit of money often end up failing, or even behind bars. It is also rare for such a profitable company to be able to genuinely help its user base: those who previously had no access to stable currencies in emerging markets. All of this stems from Paul's sincere belief: "I hope Tether is seen as... a positive contribution to the world."
Speaking about his vision for Tether, Paul said, "The past 20 years have been very good for the Western world, but I don't think the next 10 to 15 years will be as stable for the Western world. We are a stablecoin company... but perhaps we are more of a 'stability company'. Our technology is designed to bring stability to society, and this stability can start with currency."