Tether’s Paolo Ardoino makes bold U.S. debut: “We’ve been through hell—but we’re still here”

Attendees erupted in applause when Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s public face, took the stage at the Cantor Fitzgerald Global Technology Conference in New York.

Despite Tether’s outsized influence in crypto, it was Ardoino’s first major public appearance in the U.S., a country he had long avoided over regulatory scrutiny.

Ardoino was distinguished not by wealth but by attire. While Wall Street’s elites donned their finest threads at the conference, Tether’s CEO chose a casual light blue Ralph Lauren polo and gray khakis—an outfit that masked his description of himself as an executive for a company that racked up a shockingly good $13 billion profit in 2024 and controls over 60% of the stablecoin market.

US agencies have consistently scrutinized Tether’s activities

For years, the largest stablecoin issuer in the world, Tether, has been surrounded by scandal. But Monday, Ardoino stood confidently, unruffled, on the stage. “We’ve gone through hell,” he said. “But we’re still here.”

Tether has long operated outside the U.S., focusing on emerging markets where financial instability made stablecoins like USDT an essential tool. The company’s mission is to provide people with access to digital dollars and greater financial freedom.

However, the decision to leave the United States out of the picture may have been more than just a strategic judgment call — it also put Tether beyond the immediate grasp of American regulators. Multiple U.S. agencies, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), have investigated the company throughout the years.

Tether settled its cases with the NYDFS and CFTC in 2021. Still, over the past few years, there have been numerous reports of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the stablecoin issuer.

Ardoino addressed these issues in his speech. He recounted warnings that he would be arrested upon entering the U.S. and acknowledged attempts to intimidate Tether.

But sitting tall on the stage, he made it extremely clear that the company had battled these adversities and came out victorious.

Stablecoins are becoming popular as Circle tries to catch up with Tether

Tether has grown to become a financial colossus. The company earned an unprecedented $13 billion profit in 2024. Tether’s native stablecoin, USDT, has the largest market cap value in crypto at $143.3 billion.

Going forward, Ardoino said Tether wasn’t just a stablecoin store of value. The company is working on including its efforts in education, AI and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. He also said that the outlook for the coming year was bright—Tether still had a major role in the global financing industry.

Ardoino’s U.S. journey came at a time when the U.S. legislature is moving forward to regulate the $200 billion and rapidly growing stablecoin market. Tether is dominating the asset class with its $143 billion USDT cryptocurrency, followed by U.S.-based competitor Circle with its $58 billion USDC token.

Despite being incorporated as an offshore company, Tether has been working in recent weeks to establish a base of operations in El Salvador. However, its financial ties with the United States run deep.

The firm owns nearly $100 billion in U.S. government-sponsored and U.S. Treasuries and is one of the largest foreign creditors of the United States. If it were a country, Tether would be among the top 20 owners of U.S. government debt

Ardoino insists Tether is a U.S. Treasury ally

Ardoino reiterated that Tether’s financial relationship makes it an ally of the US Treasury. His argument gained an extra pat on the back after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented recently that stablecoins are an essential part of the U.S. dollar retaining its position on the world’s reserve currency throne.

Tether also has powerful friends in government and finance. Its most prominent champion is Howard Lutnick, the longtime chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, who is now the U.S. Commerce Secretary. Cantor Fitzgerald manages U.S. Treasury holdings and convertible bonds for Tether and reportedly has a financial stake in Tether’s parent company.

Tether is also expanding its presence in media and technology beyond finance. It recently invested $775 million into Rumble, a U.S.-listed video-sharing platform that has found a following among conservatives. In the meantime, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski, an ally of Ardoino’s, confirmed about a month ago that his firm would introduce a crypto payment option to allow users to pay in USDT, Bitcoin (BTC), and Tether’s gold-pegged token (XAUT).

At the same time, Tether is expanding its ties to U.S. law enforcement. It has enlisted agencies like the FBI and Secret Service to track and combat illicit crypto activity on its platform. This is part of its broader campaign to prove that Tether is not a rogue player in the financial system but an ordinary and necessary contributor to the world economy.

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