Tether Explores $500B Valuation in Private Fundraising Round

Tether Holdings Ltd., the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, is in early discussions to raise $15 billion to $20 billion through a private placement that could value the company at approximately $500 billion. Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino confirmed the potential capital raise, which WOULD involve selling a 3% stake to select high-profile investors.

The El Salvador-based firm aims to deploy the fresh capital across multiple business lines, including its core stablecoin operations, artificial intelligence, commodity trading, and energy ventures. Unlike secondary share sales, this transaction would involve issuing new equity—a strategic MOVE to accelerate expansion beyond digital assets.

At the proposed valuation, Tether would eclipse OpenAI's $300 billion market capitalization and rival SpaceX in the upper echelon of privately held tech companies. The fundraising signals stablecoin issuers' growing ambitions to diversify revenue streams as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.