Tether, the issuer of USDt—the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization—has reportedly pulled back from a previously announced $20 billion funding plan amid investor skepticism, according to a new report.
Advisers to the company have recommended cutting the size of the raise to as little as $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pushed back on earlier reports suggesting the company was seeking to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion, describing those figures as a “misconception.”
“That number is not our goal. It’s the maximum we were prepared to sell,” Ardoino told the Financial Times. “If we were selling zero, we would be very happy as well.”
Ardoino defends $500B valuation target
Despite dialing back the fundraising plans, Tether has not walked away from its ambitious $500 billion valuation, even as investors privately questioned the figure, the report said.
Ardoino defended the valuation by drawing comparisons to major AI firms such as OpenAI, which reportedly reached a $500 billion valuation following a SoftBank-led share sale last October.
“The AI companies are making the same amount of profits we’re making—except with a minus sign in front,” Ardoino said, adding:
“If you believe that some AI company is worth $800 billion, with a huge minus in front, be my guest.”
Ardoino’s remarks followed shortly after Tether reported a $10 billion profit for 2025, a 23% decline from the prior year.
Tether’s U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoin, USDt, remains the largest in the world by market capitalization, with a current supply of about $185 billion.
Beyond USDt, the company also issues the gold-backed stablecoin XAUt, which has a market capitalization of roughly $3.6 billion. Tether has been steadily increasing its gold reserves as well, reporting holdings of 130 metric tons of physical gold as of late January.
Last week, Tether officially rolled out USAt, a stablecoin tailored for the U.S. market and compliant with the GENIUS Act. Issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, USAt had reached a market capitalization of $20 million at the time of publication—doubling since launch—according to data from CoinGecko.
