Tether has quietly backed away from plans to raise as much as $20 billion in fresh capital after facing investor opposition to a proposed valuation that would rank the stablecoin issuer among the world’s most valuable private companies, according to an FT report on Wednesday.
The company, which issues the USDT stablecoin with over $185 billion in circulation, had explored a funding round last year that could have valued Tether at around $500 billion, according to people familiar with the talks.
Advisers have since hovered, raising closer to $5 billion, a sharp reduction from earlier discussions as investors questioned both the size of the deal and the valuation.
Chief executive Paolo Ardoino said the bigger numbers had been misunderstood and described the $15 billion to $20 billion range as a ceiling rather than a target.
“That number is not our goal,” Ardoino said in an interview with the FT. “If we sold zero, we’d be very happy too.”
Tether’s fundraising push has attracted attention because the company is already highly profitable and has limited operational need for external capital. Ardoino said the firm generated about $10 billion in profits last year, mainly from interest earned on the assets backing the USDT, adding that insiders were reluctant to sell shares.
Still, potential investors have raised concerns about a valuation that would place Tether alongside companies like SpaceX, ByteDance and leading artificial intelligence companies. Some have also pointed to regulatory risks and lingering issues around reserve transparency as sticking points.
Since its founding, Tether has faced scrutiny over the quality of its reserves and the use of USDT in illegal activity. While the company now publishes quarterly certificates from BDO Italia, it has not released a full audit. Ratings agency S&P Global downgraded Tether’s reserve rating last year, citing increased exposure to assets such as bitcoin and gold.
But Ardoino has defended the company’s approach, arguing that Tether’s profitability compares favorably with loss-making AI companies that have similar valuations.
“If you think an artificial intelligence company is worth $800 billion with a big minus sign in front of it, be my guest,” he said.
Tether’s growing footprint in U.S. Treasuries and gold has made it one of the most significant bridges between traditional finance and digital assets — a role that continues to attract attention even as investors debate how much the company is worth.
