Tether CEO confirms major capital raise at a reported $500 billion valuation

Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, is evaluating a large fundraising round, its CEO Paolo Ardoino, has confirmed, successful a woody that could reportedly enactment the crypto company's worth connected par with OpenAI.

The El Salvador-based institution is looking to rise betwixt $15 cardinal and $20 cardinal for a astir 3% involvement done a backstage placement, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg News, citing 2 individuals acquainted with the matter.

Soon aft that report, Ardoino confirmed plans to fundraise connected his official X account, saying that Tether was "evaluating a rise from a selected radical of high-profile cardinal investors."

The funds would "maximize the scale" of Tether's strategy crossed existing and caller concern lines by "several orders of magnitude," helium added. Those concern lines see stablecoins, organisation ubiquity, artificial intelligence, commodity trading, energy, communications and media.

The transaction would impact caller equity alternatively than existing investors selling their stakes, sources told Bloomberg.

The study said 1 idiosyncratic adjacent to the substance warned that the talks are successful an aboriginal stage, which means the eventual details, including the size of the offering, could change.

However, the woody could yet worth Tether astatine astir $500 billion, according to the report. That would mean the crypto giant's valuation would rival immoderate of the world's biggest backstage companies, including SpaceX and OpenAI. OpenAI's fundraising circular earlier this year valued the tech institution astatine $300 billion.

Tether, which was once accused of being a criminal's "go-to cryptocurrency," has been furthering its plans to instrumentality to the U.S. successful caller months, fixed President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance. The company, earlier this month, named a CEO for its U.S. concern and  for businesses and institutions successful the U.S. called USAT, which volition beryllium regulated successful the U.S. nether the GENIUS Act.

Stablecoin USD Tether (USDT) is pegged to the U.S. dollar with a marketplace headdress that precocious surpassed $172 billion. In 2nd spot is Tether rival Circle's USDC stablecoin, which is worthy astir $74 billion.