Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino teased the company’s ambitious plan to maintain its dominance in the rapidly growing stablecoin market, even as Wall Street and Big Tech signal their intent to enter the sector.
In an interview with the popular crypto podcast Bankless, Ardoino discussed how Tether’s expansive global distribution network, strategic investments in dozens of companies, and the potential regulatory advantages that could hinder tech giants like from launching competing stablecoins.
Over 11 years, Tether has built what Ardoino described as “the biggest distribution network for the U.S. dollar in the history of humanity,” with millions of physical touchpoints worldwide. Namely, the network reaches deep into emerging markets through initiatives like solar-powered kiosks in Africa, Ardoino told the show.
"Just in Africa, you know, we build, we are building, we did this pilot with 500 kiosks with solar panels on top and rechargeable batteries inside in Africa. 400 million people, 600 million people, actually, don’t have access to electricity, and so we build this kiosks with solar panels on top and batteries inside,” the Tether CEO said. "We sell subscriptions for 3 USDT per month to the people in these villages, and we have around 500,000 users already and 10 million battery swaps.”
Tether plans to expand this initiative significantly, according to Ardoino.
“By 2026, we’re going to have 10,000 kiosks, and, end of 2030, we’re going to have 100,000 kiosks. So, we are going to touch around 30 million households by 2030. That means that 120 million people, on average, in Africa, first of all, is a change that you can see from space, because you light up a continent, and, also, you know, you have 120 million people that are going to rely, on a day-to-day basis, on the US dollar in the form of USDT,” he said.
Tether’s investment portfolio, encompassing over 100 companies, plays an integral role in market reach, Ardoino said, pointing to a partnership with the pro-free speech video-sharing platform Rumble. “Think about the U.S. domestic stablecoin. Rumble will launch a Rumble wallet and has 70 million users. It’s not bad to start with. It’s good to bootstrap. I think that is pretty much how many active users, much more active users than, probably, the biggest exchange in the U.S.”
During his discussion with hosts Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman, Ardoino also delved into Tether’s meteoric growth. “The reason why Tether is the lead stablecoin and has such high metrics, like 450 million users, we grow by 30 million new wallets per quarter, and we publish that data. We have this website, called usdt.net, where we publish the updated data. 37% of our users are savings accounts, for example,” he explained.
Ardoino also reaffirmed Tether’s mission as one of extending the U.S. dollar’s influence to emerging markets. “That’s how you bring the US dollar farther, and you bring it to the emerging markets. That’s what what boiled in our pot for the last many years, and that is one of the least understood things about Tether,” he said.
Ardoino then weighed in on the recently Senate-approved GENIUS Act, which establishes a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, as a potential obstacle for technology companies aiming to issue stablecoins.
"We need to wait, but seems like companies like Meta might have a hard time to launch a stablecoin, given, if I'm not wrong, given the GENIUS Act,” Ardoino said. “There is kind of, sort of, a prohibition, if you are not primarily involved in finance. There is kind of prohibition that is, at least, my take from the language that I saw.”
As of April 2025, Tether’s USDt held a 66% share of the stablecoin market, with a market capitalization of approximately $150 billion, according to CoinGecko. The Department of the Treasury’s first-quarter 2025 report projects that USD-pegged stablecoins could reach a combined market cap of $2 trillion by 2028.
Circle, the issuer of USDC, saw its stock soar over 200% after a $1.1 billion IPO on the NYSE in June 2025, as major players like Amazon and banks explore launching their own stablecoins to capitalize on the growing market.
