Tether will double its headcount to comply with regulatory requirements

What’s new? Tether, which issues the largest USDT stablecoin with a capitalization of $115,5 billion, is set to double its headcount to strengthen its compliance efforts. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, the company plans to reach a staff size of 200 by mid-2025.

Material by Bloomberg

What else is known? Hiring additional employees will also strengthen the finance department, which manages the assets that serve as collateral for the USDT stablecoin. USDT’s reserves stood at $118,4 billion as of June 30, according to its Q2 earnings report.

Despite its small headcount, Tether has rapidly grown into a financial giant and recorded a record $5,2 billion profit in the first half of 2024. Net operating income reached $1,3 billion in Q2, which was also the best result in the company’s history. In comparison, major centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs) such as Binance and Coinbase employ thousands of people.

In addition, in April, Tether restructured and launched four business units: mining, investment and development, education, and asset management. The company is also involved in creating a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in Uzbekistan and El Salvador, and jointly with the authorities of the latter, it previously launched a program to grant citizenship for crypto investments.

Meanwhile, the company has faced accusations from US senators of processing transactions linked to terrorist groups, but Ardoino denied such allegations. The UN has also reported on the popularity of USDT for money laundering, in response Tether called for the organization’s cooperation and stressed that it is actively cooperating with regulators around the world.

Moreover, Tether has started blocking all addresses on the US sanctions list and monitoring the USDT secondary market to prevent illegal transactions, together with Chainalysis experts. The company also regularly freezes coins spotted in illegal activities.

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In a new interview with Bloomberg, Ardoino noted that monitoring the secondary market, including exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) platforms, requires the use of different types of automated tools.

At the same time, the senior executive emphasized that he was cautious about expanding his staff too much:

“There is nothing that I hate more than all those companies, especially Silicon Valley companies, that hire hundreds of people during the bull runs to fire them as soon as there is a downturn in the market. That I think is one of the most unfair things you can do to employees.”

Over the past two years, Tether has invested around $2 billion in various firms, including miners Northern Data and Bitdeer. These investments are managed by a team of just 15 people.

The company uses income from investing in US Treasury bonds to invest in startups. It ranks 18th in terms of investment in US government debt, overtaking Germany, Australia, and the UAE.