Tether

Tether is run by a small, long-standing leadership group. Paolo Ardoino, formerly CTO, became CEO in December 2023, and Giancarlo Devasini chairs the board and signed the Q2 2026 reserve report. Control is private and concentrated, and there is no independent governance over reserve decisions. The track record is mixed: Tether has met large redemptions, but in 2021 the New York Attorney General and the CFTC penalised it over past claims about its backing.

• Tether appoints Paolo Ardoino as CEO
• BDO ISAE 3000R report: Tether International Financial Figures and Reserves Report, 30 June 2026
• Attorney General James ends virtual currency trading platform Bitfinex's illegal activities in New York
• CFTC orders Tether to pay fines totaling $41 million

Tether does not publish its shareholders. Forbes estimates chairman Giancarlo Devasini owns about 45%. Cantor Fitzgerald made a convertible debt investment in 2024 reported as worth a 5% stake, and it acts as reserve custodian for USAT. A planned raise of US$15–20B was scaled back and, per Bloomberg in March 2026, put on hold pending a full audit; no completed raise was found as of 16 September 2026.

• Forbes profile: Giancarlo Devasini
• Howard Lutnick softens stance on Tether stability, investment ties during Senate hearing (CoinDesk)
• Tether debuts federally regulated USAT stablecoin via Anchorage Digital (CoinDesk)
• Tether's landmark fundraise on hold as crypto giant seeks audit (Bloomberg)

At 30 June 2026 reserves of US$187.75B exceeded liabilities by US$4.11B, only 2.24%. That buffer was US$8.23B at 31 March 2026. About 75% of reserves were cash equivalents, mostly Treasury bills and reverse repo. About 25% sat in gold (10%), secured loans (7%), bitcoin (3%), equities and undisclosed other investments. A 2.24% cushion is small against price swings in gold and bitcoin, and the BDO report shows a negative H1 2026 financial result of US$3.17B. S&P rated stability 5 ("weak") in November 2025.

• BDO ISAE 3000R report: Tether International Financial Figures and Reserves Report, 30 June 2026
• Tether posts $1.04B Q1 2026 profit, reaches all-time high $8.23B reserve buffer
• Tether's USDT downgraded to weakest level at S&P Global (CoinDesk)

On 16 September 2026 about US$183B of USDT circulated, about 59–64% of dollar stablecoins depending on the data source, with about US$92.6B on Tron and US$73.6B on Ethereum. Tronscan showed about 76.6 million addresses holding USDT on Tron (addresses, not people). Chainalysis estimated about US$703B of monthly transfers in 2024–2025. The peg has held tightly: the largest fall over the past year was 0.34%.

• DefiLlama Stablecoins API
• Tronscan API: USDT TRC-20 token
• Chainalysis 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index
• CoinGecko: Tether (USDT)
• CoinGecko API: coin categories (USD Stablecoin market cap)