Tether could delay its fundraising to 500 billion

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, is playing a risky card. The company is trying to close a historic fundraising at a valuation of 500 billion dollars, but time is running out. Investors have two weeks to commit. After this period, the project could be purely and simply postponed.

A XXL valuation that makes Wall Street hesitate

According to The Information, Tether, the company behind the USDT, gave potential investors a two-week deadline to confirm their participation in its private funding round. If commitments do not reach the targeted amounts, the company could simply postpone the operation.

The stated ambition is immense. Tether would aim for a 500 billion dollar valuation within a fundraising between 15 and 20 billion dollars, achieved through a private placement, with Cantor Fitzgerald as advisor.

At this level, the group would surpass Bank of America, valued around 352 billion dollars, and would rank just behind JPMorgan Chase, whose capitalization is around 794 billion dollars. Such an operation would propel the USDT issuer into the very exclusive circle of the largest global financial powers.

On the ground, however, enthusiasm is not total. According to several sources cited by The Information, some investors consider this valuation too ambitious. Because even if USDT remains the largest stablecoin on the market with a capitalization of about 184 billion dollars, crossing the 500 billion threshold requires much more than simple sector dominance. 

This demands strong confidence in Tether’s ability to continue its growth, to diversify its activities, and to maintain sufficient transparency about the quality of its reserves.

Transparency and ambitions, Tether plays a new card

This is not the first time Tether has mentioned a fundraising. In September 2024, Bloomberg already revealed that the company was exploring this path, considering raising between 15 and 20 billion through a private placement representing about 3% of the capital. 

CEO Paolo Ardoino then confirmed the intention on X, mentioning expansion into sectors as varied as artificial intelligence, energy, commodities, and media.

However, last February, Ardoino partially revised his communication. Interviewed by Cointelegraph, he described the 20 billion figures as “mere hypotheses,” while maintaining the 500 billion valuation, which he willingly compares to OpenAI’s profits. Today, the pressure seems very real, and the tone has clearly changed.

At the same time, Tether is trying to dispel its most criticized shadow areas. According to the Financial Times, KPMG has been mandated to carry out the first full audit of its financial statements, a first in the company’s history.

PwC is also supporting it in setting up its internal systems. Until now, Tether had been content with attestations signed by BDO Italy, far from a comprehensive audit covering assets, liabilities, and internal controls.

This approach is not trivial, in a context where stablecoins concentrate 75% of total crypto trading volume and where USDT holds about 68% of exchange volumes. Gaining the trust of large institutional investors necessarily involves more transparency.

Tether is playing a risky card. A tight deadline, a XXL valuation, an uncertain market. If the operation fails, it will be a strong signal of distrust toward the stablecoin giant. If it succeeds, Tether will shift into another dimension, that of systemic financial institutions. The next two weeks will say a lot about the sector’s future.