Tether Cuts $20B Funding Plan Amid Investor Caution: Report

Tether, the issuer of USDt — the largest stablecoin by market capitalization — has reportedly scaled back an ambitious $20 billion funding plan announced last fall amid investor skepticism.

The company’s advisers have suggested reducing the raise to as little as $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino downplayed earlier reports that the company aimed to raise between $15 and 20 billion, calling them a “misconception.”

“That number is not our goal. It’s our maximum we were ready to sell,” Ardoino said, according to the Financial Times. “If we were selling zero, we would be very happy as well.”

Ardoino defends $500B valuation by comparing Tether to AI companies

While stepping back from the $20 billion raise, Tether has not abandoned its $500 billion valuation target, though the report said investors privately raised concerns about the figure.

Ardoino defended the figure by comparing the company’s profits to AI platforms such as OpenAI, which reportedly reached a $500 billion valuation after a SoftBank share sale last October.

“The AI companies are making the same amount of profits we’re making, except with a minus sign in the front,” Ardoino said, adding:

“If you believe that some AI company is worth $800 billion, with a huge minus in front, be my guest.”

Ardoino’s comments came shortly after Tether said it posted a $10 billion profit in 2025, down 23% from the previous year.

Tether’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDt (USDT), is the largest in the world by market capitalization, currently totaling $185 billion.

Related: Tether expands support for USDT, Tether Gold in Opera’s MiniPay wallet

In addition to USDt, the company operates the $3.6 billion gold-backed stablecoin XAUt and has been actively accumulating gold for its reserves, reporting holdings of 130 metric tons of physical gold to Cointelegraph in late January.

Last week, Tether officially launched USAt, a stablecoin designed specifically for the US market under the GENIUS Act. Issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, USAt had a market capitalization of $20 million at the time of publication, doubling in value since its launch, according to CoinGecko data.

Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for comment on the revised funding plans but had not received a response at the time of publication.

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