Tether’s Path To Web3 Monetary Leadership

Tether claims 500 million users for its stablecoin USDT, hitting an unprecedented milestone in digital finance. Behind this colossal figure, the company asserts its ambition : to become a pillar of global financial inclusion. As USDT establishes itself in daily use, especially in emerging economies, Tether is now extending its influence towards a new strategic area : global regulation. More than a mere record, this announcement marks the rise of a player who has become central to the monetary architecture of Web3.

The global expansion of a now essential stablecoin

It was Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, who revealed on October 21 a striking statistic : USDT is now used by more than 500 million people worldwide, while the stablecoin issuer could become the most profitable crypto company in history.

He states that “this progress reflects the greatest achievement in financial inclusion history“

Tether USDT reached officially 500 million users!
Likely the biggest financial inclusion achievement in history. https://t.co/jbmnMDwidi

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino) October 21, 2025

This statement comes as the token’s market capitalization nears 182 billion dollars, strengthening its leadership position among digital currencies pegged to the dollar. “Programmable money is the ultimate social network: a peer-to-peer structure that carries both information and value”, he specified, highlighting USDT’s fundamentally cross-cutting nature in digital economic exchanges.

This message fits into a communication strategy aimed at positioning Tether as a player serving the unbanked populations.

Beyond institutional communication, several concrete initiatives help understand how Tether reached this historic adoption milestone. The development of USDT in emerging countries is a key driver of this growth, notably through the following uses :

• Remittances : USDT is used as a faster and less expensive alternative to traditional banking channels for international money transfers ;

• Daily payments : in economies plagued by monetary instability, some merchants and individuals prefer to transact directly in stablecoin ;

• Community partnerships : Tether has intensified its field efforts to integrate USDT into local ecosystems, collaborating with fintechs and associations ;

• A mobile-first strategy : adoption is facilitated by lightweight solutions, often accessible from a simple smartphone without the need for a bank account.

This positioning, designed for local economic realities, has allowed Tether to capture a user base that widely exceeds the traditional crypto sector boundaries. The company now intends to extend this model to the American market, with the upcoming launch of a stablecoin called USAT, exclusively dedicated to this territory.

Regulation, record profits, and challenges ahead for Tether

Beyond adoption figures and on-chain data, it is on the regulatory front that Tether now stakes its credibility. The company announced a record net profit of 4.9 billion dollars in the second quarter of this year, surpassing its previous peak of 4.52 billion in the first quarter.

This unprecedented profitability places Tether among the most profitable private tech companies. However, this growing financial exposure also attracts regulators’ attention. Present during Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act, Ardoino saw his company come squarely onto the authorities’ radar. The law notably requires an annual mandatory audit for any stablecoin issuer exceeding 50 billion dollars in capitalization.

In Europe, the situation is quite different. The progressive enforcement of the MiCA regulation, imposing strict compliance standards, caused USDT’s market share to fall from 70 % in November 2024 to nearly 60 % in October 2025. Most exchanges on the continent were forced to delist USDT pairs, as the asset is not fully compliant with the new requirements.

Faced with this pressure, Ardoino assured that Tether is working to enhance transparency in its operations, notably by continuing to publish attestation reports, while seeking to obtain an audit from one of the “Big Four” such as Deloitte or PwC. However, the lack of an independent audit remains a significant friction point, regularly raised by the stablecoin’s critics.

In the longer term, several scenarios are emerging. On one hand, major American banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup, are beginning to consider their own digital currencies, leveraging the framework offered by the GENIUS Act to compete with Tether on its own turf. Ardoino does not deny this threat but counters by asserting that “Tether has better technology and a deeper understanding of the market than its competitors“.

On the other hand, the creation of the new stablecoin USAT dedicated to the American market marks a strategic anticipation attempt amid this institutional pressure. The operation will be carried out without fundraising, through the issuance of new shares, a sign of a desire for strict control over governance.

Crossing the milestone of 500 million users is not just symbolic. It reveals a scaling shift for the stablecoin industry. However, this success cannot mask the growing regulatory tensions Tether faces. Between global ambitions and local constraints, between record profits and calls for transparency, the company plays a delicate game. The outcome will depend on its ability to comply with the new rules of the game without losing the agility that made it successful.