Paolo Ardoino (Tether): "After USDT, we want to disrupt many sectors".

As part of our stablecoin season, The Big Whale brings you an interview with Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. Tether is the largest issuer in the sector along with USDT, with a market capitalisation of $120 billion.

This interview provides an update on a number of hot topics: the stablecoin regulations emerging around the world, particularly in Europe, as well as Tether's new investments in areas such as artificial intelligence and communication systems.

Here are the takeaways:

The UAE Dirham stablecoin could become the second most important for Tether

"Over the past decade, we have seen the UAE Dirham increasingly used for remittances to India and Asia in general. This is mainly due to the ambition of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to become major financial centres. This trend leads us to believe that this stablecoin could be a real success, especially as the UAE Dirham is closely linked to the US dollar."

No major change in strategy despite falling rates

"We will continue to increase the percentage of our reserves in US Treasury bills. Even if rates fall to 1%, this will still provide us with comfortable income, given our current market capitalisation. As we announced several months ago, we will also increase the proportion of bitcoin in our reserves."

Tether is diversifying beyond cryptocurrencies

Recently, Tether has broadened its focus by investing in artificial intelligence and energy.

"Our goal is to innovate in these sectors while complying with regulations. That's why we're looking to recruit the best talent in their respective fields. For example, we recently hired Jesse Spiro (formerly of PayPal and Chainalysis) and Philip Gradwell (ex-Chainalysis) to make this long-term vision a reality."

Policy on freezing addresses

"Unlike many of our competitors, we don't wait for an order from the authorities to freeze addresses. This issue was brought to light by ZackXBT, probably the most talented investigator in the industry. Tether is acting as expeditiously as possible, and we believe this is the right approach."

Europe: Tether does not plan to comply with regulations until January 1, 2025

In a previous interview given to The Big Whale in April, Paolo Ardoino had already expressed Tether's reluctance to submit to European regulation for the issuance of stablecoins.

"MiCA requires us to place 60% of our cash reserves with several banking institutions. This could compromise our redemption system. What's more, how do we manage the risk of bank failure? It's too great a danger that we're not prepared to put our users in."

"At present, many aspects of MiCA's implementation remain unclear. We remain hopeful that the European authorities will take account of our concerns, which are shared by many companies across the continent. I would like to stress that we are in favour of regulation, but not at any price. We maintain an open dialogue with many regulators."

Launch of a white-label tokenisation platform including the euro

At the end of October, Tether plans to launch a white-label tokenisation platform. "There is no market for a euro stablecoin outside Europe. However, there is an interesting institutional market," explained Paolo Ardoino. "We therefore plan to launch a white-label tokenisation platform at the end of October that will incorporate all the technology with which we have deployed our stablecoins. Many of the players we are talking to are interested in using it with the euro", he enthused.