Venezuelan Bolivar and U.S. Dollar banknotes and representations of cryptocurrency Tether are seen in this illustration taken Sept. 8, 2025.
Dado Ruvic | Array
Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, is evaluating a major fundraising round, its CEO Paolo Ardoino, has confirmed, in a deal that could reportedly put the crypto company’s value on par with OpenAI.
The El Salvador-based company is looking to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion for a roughly 3% stake through a private placement, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg News, citing two individuals familiar with the matter.
Soon after that report, Ardoino confirmed plans to fundraise on his official X account, saying that Tether was “evaluating a raise from a selected group of high-profile key investors.”
The funds would “maximize the scale” of Tether’s strategy across existing and new business lines by “several orders of magnitude,” he added. Those business lines include stablecoins, distribution ubiquity, artificial intelligence, commodity trading, energy, communications and media.
The transaction would involve new equity rather than existing investors selling their stakes, sources told Bloomberg.
The report said one person close to the matter warned that the talks are in an early stage, which means the eventual details, including the size of the offering, could change.
However, the deal could ultimately value Tether at around $500 billion, according to the report. That would mean the crypto giant’s valuation would rival some of the world’s biggest private companies, including SpaceX and OpenAI. OpenAI’s fundraising round earlier this year valued the tech company at $300 billion.
Tether, which was once accused of being a criminal’s “go-to cryptocurrency,” has been furthering its plans to return to the U.S. in recent months, given President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance. The company, earlier this month, named a CEO for its U.S. business and for businesses and institutions in the U.S. called USAT, which will be regulated in the U.S. under the GENIUS Act.
Stablecoin USD Tether (USDT) is pegged to the U.S. dollar with a market cap that recently surpassed $172 billion. In second place is Tether rival Circle’s USDC stablecoin, which is worth about $74 billion.
