Tether is one of the most important companies in crypto and also one of the most notorious. Its business is going gangbusters as its namesake stablecoin has swollen to over $90 billion in market value, which lets Tether make fat margins in this era of 5.5% Fed rates. But despite this success, the company is still a villain to many who complain of its slippery morals and lack of transparency.
That's why it was interesting to hear firsthand from Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who joined us for Fortune’s Q&A-style Future of Finance series. He shared details about learning to code at the age of 8 in his native Italy, and how he first came to view Bitcoin as a superior form of financial technology. But the most intriguing part to me is what he said about his critics:
"Everyone was supporting FTX—as everyone was cheering for Celsius, for BlockFi, for Voyager, and Genesis, and all the companies that went down in 2022. Even this year, three banks, four banks, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature, Silvergate, and also Credit Suisse, they went bust. So when I hear bankers pointing the finger at us, when I hear other people in the crypto industry pointing the finger at us, I always remind them about what’s happened. They should look in their own house before pointing the finger at us."
Regardless of how you view Tether, it's hard not to read this and think "well, the guy has a point." Even as once-reputable companies in crypto and banking got washed away in the last year, Adroino's firm has demonstrated remarkable staying power. And given that stablecoins pay no interest to customers, Tether is likely stronger than ever in this high-interest environment.
As for competition, the company's nearest rival is Circle, where growth has sputtered to the point where its $24 billion of USDC is worth barely more than a quarter's of Tether's stash. Part of this is because Circle must compete with one hand tied behind its back since, unlike Tether, it has to follow U.S. regulations and try to screen out dodgy clients. But Circle's runner-up status is also because of its ill-advised decision to park a big chunk of its reserves at Silicon Valley Bank, which triggered a crisis of confidence in USDC.
The other thing that jumped out from the Q&A was Ardoino's comments on Tether's murky auditing practices, which have seen it rely on off-brand "attestations" rather than conventional sign-offs from one of the Big 4. Ardoino says he has tried his best to get a big league audit, but that accounting firms won't touch Tether because the U.S. government has warned them to stay away from crypto firms.
Ardoino's explanation is reasonable, and, for now at least, there's no reason to suspect Tether lacks the reserves to back its stablecoins—though in the past those reserves have contained large chunks of Chinese commercial paper and God knows what else. Meanwhile, the company has had little to say about the popularity of its stablecoin with Chinese "pig butchering" scammers, and other faraway rogues. If Tether wants to enjoy the respect Adroino believes it deserves, the company needs to start purging these bad actors, and elevating its moral standards to the level of its business performance.
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
