At the very least two high-profile funding corporations are reportedly vying to again stablecoin issuer Tether because it seems to be to promote roughly 3% of its fairness — a transfer that underscores pent-up investor demand for one of many world’s most worthwhile corporations.
Based on Bloomberg, enterprise capital giants SoftBank Group and ARK Funding Administration are amongst potential buyers contemplating a mixed funding of as much as $20 billion in Tether.
As Cointelegraph reported this week, if profitable, the funding spherical might worth the corporate at as much as $500 billion, putting it among the many world’s Most worthy personal enterprises.
For comparability, OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, is alleged to be in talks to lift capital at an identical $500 billion valuation.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed earlier this week that the corporate is exploring a possible fundraise “from a choose group of high-profile key buyers,” although he declined to reveal particular names or quantities.
Ardoino additionally hinted that Tether might develop into new enterprise traces, together with commodities, vitality and media, as a part of its broader development technique.
The investor curiosity displays Tether’s dominant place within the stablecoin market, which has advanced from a device for crypto merchants right into a strategic monetary asset. In america, the lately authorised GENIUS Act has additional elevated stablecoins as a nationwide precedence, aimed toward strengthening the greenback’s function in world finance.
Tether’s flagship US dollar-backed, USDt (USDT), stays the world’s largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of roughly $173.6 billion.
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Tether’s huge profitability and the necessity to transfer past curiosity earnings
Backed by huge US Treasury holdings and a rising Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, Tether has develop into one among crypto’s most worthwhile corporations, reporting $4.9 billion in web earnings within the second quarter of 2025 — marking a 277% enhance in comparison with one yr earlier.
Tether’s core enterprise mannequin facilities on issuing its USDt stablecoin. When customers deposit fiat foreign money, Tether mints USDT and invests the corresponding reserves into yield-generating property.
The vast majority of these reserves are allotted to US Treasury payments, notably short-term securities comparable to three-month and 12-month T-bills, which pay fastened curiosity and are thought of nearly risk-free.
The surge in short-term Treasury yields since 2022, when the US Federal Reserve started its aggressive rate-hiking cycle, has considerably boosted Tether’s earnings. Because the federal funds fee climbed above 5%, yields on three-month T-bills — among the many most rate-sensitive maturities — rose in tandem, offering Tether with a strong tailwind for curiosity earnings.
For main holders of short-duration Treasurys like Tether, this surroundings translated into file earnings. Elevated charges have allowed the corporate to earn substantial returns on its reserves whereas sustaining excessive liquidity.
Nevertheless, whereas yields stay traditionally elevated, the three-month Treasury yield now sits under its peak ranges from 2023 and 2024, doubtlessly signaling a necessity for T-Invoice-rich companies to scale back their reliance on curiosity earnings.
Along with curiosity earnings, Tether has additionally generated income from secured lending, issuing collateralized loans backed by its reserves — a line of enterprise that has additional contributed to its general profitability.
Regardless of the overwhelming success of its core enterprise mannequin, Tether is actively in search of to diversify its operations. Based mostly on feedback from Ardoino, the corporate has begun increasing into new sectors — together with a pivot towards infrastructure and vitality manufacturing, first introduced in late 2023.
In 2024, Tether made its first crypto enterprise capital funding, committing funds to assist Arcanum Capital.
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