Tether is currently the 17th largest holder of U.S. government debt, holding nearly as many treasury bonds in its digital reserves as Saudi Arabia.
While its parent company is based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, the cryptocurrency is expanding in a way that CEO, Paolo Ardoino, claims will strengthen the United States’ position as the world’s reserve currency.
“We have 400 million users in emerging markets,” Ardoino said.
“We are basically selling the US debt outside the US … We are decentralizing the US debt as well, basically pushing for dollar hegemony. That’s how the US can maintain its dominance when it comes to its currency.”
In a January 2025 report, the company revealed that its U.S. Treasury portfolio is now valued at approximately $113 billion. As of December 31 2024, the total $USDT market capitalization stood at roughly $137 billion, slightly less than Tether’s total reserves of over $143 billion, according to its latest attestation by BDO.
[TECH] STABLECOINS | Tether ($USDT) Reports $13 Billion Profits for 2024 and All-Time Highs in U.S. Treasury Holdings: Tether, issuer of the $USDt stablecoin, reported record profits of $13 billion in 2024 a.. https://t.co/v56gBSrW0y via @BitcoinKE
— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) February 5, 2025
Speaking to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Ardoino praised the company’s consistent reporting blaming ‘naivety’ for the scrutiny they drew earlier on.
“We were very naive. We thought: ‘Oh, we are going to keep our head down.’ We were not communicating. We were not telling what’s going on, and that was used against us,” he said.
“And that’s fair, right? So, if someone is not communicating, or you feel is not transparent enough, then that is how people get to fear.
We’ve never been shady. The company has been great. It has been attacked. Debanked. You know, when you’re trying to be a disruptor – in a good sense – you are going to always be attacked by the establishment.”
Following its settlement with New York regulators in 2021, Tether started becoming more transparent, releasing quarterly reports and increasing its collaboration with the government, and is flourishing under Ardoino’s leadership.
Wallets holding $USDT increased 71% in the past year and 129% the year before, driven primarily by wallets holding less than $1,000. The growth is largely fuelled by adoption in emerging markets, including Africa.
STABLECOINS | Majority of New $USDT Users Are Coming from Emerging Markets, Including African Cities, Says a Bloomberg Analysis
According to Ardoino, Tether has just over 300 million users globally.https://t.co/DQz6v1xCHi @Tether_to @paoloardoino pic.twitter.com/jXthoNYyGt
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) November 6, 2024
In 2025, the company is doubling down in emerging markets, including leading a $10 million funding round in MANSA, a global fintech innovator in cross-border payments.
FUNDING | MANSA Secures $10 Million in Seed Funding Led by Tether After Over 37% MoM Growth in 6 Months, Mainly in Africa, Leveraging $USDT https://t.co/oHBb1z669M @MANSA_FI @Tether_to @paoloardoino pic.twitter.com/jPSD4IZ9gz
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 20, 2025
MANSA’s stablecoin-based solution offers payment providers in emerging and mature markets a flexible and reliable way to manage liquidity challenges in cross-border payments.
Additionally, in a first on the African continent, Tether entered a strategic collaboration with the Republic of Guinea to explore the transformative potential of blockchain and peer-to-peer technologies.
🇬🇳 #Tether ( $USDT) in #Africa@Tether_to recently visited #Guinea, meeting with the Ministre des Postes, des Télécommunications et de l’Economie Numérique, Rose Pola Pricemou, and the Ministre de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation, Alpha Bacar Barry,… pic.twitter.com/H2XSsRXvYR
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) March 3, 2025
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