Tether is urging potential investors to commit to a new funding round within a two-week window, warning that the raise may be postponed if sufficient interest does not materialise. The El Salvador-based firm has been seeking fresh capital since late 2024 but has encountered resistance from investors uncomfortable with the proposed valuation, according to The Information, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Should commitments fall below expectations, the company is expected to push back the timeline for the raise.
The targeted $500 billion valuation would position Tether among the largest financial institutions in the world, surpassing every US bank with the exception of JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank by market capitalisation, currently carries a market cap of approximately $794.55 billion. The second-largest US bank, Bank of America, holds a market cap of around $352.86 billion, placing Tether’s target well above it.
Tether’s flagship product, the USDt stablecoin, is the largest stablecoin in the world by market capitalisation, currently valued at $184 billion. The company also offers Tether Gold and Tether EURt, the latter of which is pegged to the euro. These products form the core of Tether’s existing business portfolio alongside its stablecoin operations.
Reports of a potential fundraising effort first emerged in September of last year, when Bloomberg reported that Tether was exploring a raise of up to $20 billion through a private placement representing roughly a 3% stake in the company, with Cantor Fitzgerald serving as lead adviser. Following that report, CEO Paolo Ardoino stated on X that the company was considering bringing in a select group of investors to scale operations across several areas, including stablecoins, artificial intelligence, commodity trading, energy, and media. He described the intended expansion as growth across existing and new business lines by several orders of magnitude.
In February, however, Ardoino walked back some of the earlier figures in comments to Cointelegraph, characterising the $20 billion figure as a hypothetical scenario rather than an active plan. Despite this, he continued to defend the $500 billion valuation, drawing comparisons between Tether’s profitability and that of AI platforms such as OpenAI. Cointelegraph subsequently sought comment from Tether directly but had not received a response by the time of publication.
In a separate development, Tether has reportedly engaged KPMG to carry out its first full audit of USDt’s financial statements, with PwC assisting in preparing the company’s internal systems, according to the Financial Times. The move marks a significant shift from the company’s longstanding practice of relying on reserve attestations provided by BDO Italia rather than a comprehensive independent audit. A full audit would go further than periodic reserve snapshots, examining assets, liabilities, and internal controls across Tether’s entire balance sheet, potentially offering greater transparency to regulators and investors alike.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
