How did 150 people create 14 billion dollars in profit with Tether?

Tether is the most efficient enterprise on Earth.

Written by: Bridget Harris

Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

In 2024, Tether generated a profit of 14 billion dollars with only 150 employees, which means each employee contributed 93 million dollars. This astonishing efficiency has led many to believe that Tether may be the most efficiently operated company in the world.

So, how did this stablecoin company achieve this feat?

Tether made a profit of 14 billion dollars last year, surpassing Pfizer, Tesla, and BlackRock. And all of this was achieved without relying on advertising or a large number of employees, solely depending on a product that many may not have paid much attention to - the stablecoin USDT.

As of now, the circulation of USDT has reached 147 billion dollars, far ahead of other stablecoins, making it the most widely used stablecoin in the world. Moreover, Tether is also embarking on ambitious explorations in fields such as artificial intelligence, private communication, and neural technology.

Whenever someone buys USDT, Tether uses the cash received to generate returns, and these funds are primarily used to invest in U.S. Treasury bonds.

In 2024, Tether became the seventh largest buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds, even surpassing countries and regions such as Canada, Taiwan, and Norway. Moreover, its growth rate continues to accelerate: last year, the total issuance of USDT reached $45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 57%, while the user growth of USDT in the first quarter of 2025 was 13%.

Although Tether has been known for its low profile in the past, the company is now beginning to share its future vision more as the regulatory environment in the United States shifts in its favor.

Stablecoins are essentially digital dollars issued on the blockchain, pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio. They provide an effective way for the global community to access US dollars, serving both as a means of savings and significantly enhancing the efficiency of capital flows, especially in cross-border payments.

The second-ranked stablecoin is Circle's USDC, with a circulation of 62 billion dollars, which is less than half of USDT. USDC focuses more on payment compliance and institutional adoption. Unlike USDT, which dominates the limited international market for dollar acquisition, USDC – initially launched by Coinbase and Circle – is more popular in the U.S. market.

Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino is a 40-year-old Italian computer scientist who describes himself as a "simple person" and is indifferent to competitors.

He stated during an interview with Forbes earlier this month: "They do not represent the true use case of stablecoins."

In his view, the core value of stablecoins lies in providing a reliable and practically usable currency for people in economically unstable countries, such as individuals in Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria. In these regions, rapid depreciation of the local currency has made savings nearly impossible, creating an urgent need to acquire US dollars.

Although the main use case for USDT is still focused on emerging markets, Paul is also exploring the launch of a locally issued stablecoin specifically aimed at US institutions.

"How 'interesting' will this be for our competitors?" he joked in an interview with Forbes.

A special aspect of Tether's business is its partnership with the legendary American financial institution Cantor Fitzgerald. A few years ago, when other American companies were reluctant to engage with Tether, Cantor became its banking partner. At that time, Tether was controversial due to the inclusion of Chinese corporate bonds in part of the reserves backing USDT.

Despite various controversies, Cantor took the risk to establish a partnership with Tether. Recently, Cantor acquired 5% of Tether's shares for $600 million, which clearly comes with a substantial discount in valuation. This move may partially be to thank Cantor for its early support. It is noteworthy that Cantor's former chairman and CEO, Howard Lutnick, is currently the Secretary of Commerce under the Trump administration.

At a recent Bitcoin conference, in response to criticism of Tether, Rutnick said: "They say Tether is owned by the Chinese. In fact, it is owned by Giancarlo, who is Italian, and there is a difference between the two."

(Note: Giancarlo is the Chief Financial Officer of Tether and holds approximately 47% of Tether's shares. Source: Forbes)

What is the close relationship between Tether and Cantor, and what is the reason behind this preferential deal? - The secret lies in Cantor's special identity: it is one of only 24 primary dealers in the United States that can trade directly with the Federal Reserve.

In practical terms, this means that if a large number of users attempt to exchange USDT for US dollars, Tether can immediately meet the demand. As a primary dealer, Cantor helps the Federal Reserve maintain liquidity in the government bond market, which gives Cantor direct access to trade with the Federal Reserve. When Tether needs cash, Cantor can sell U.S. Treasuries directly to the Federal Reserve without delay and without intermediaries.

In other words, Tether has gained the ability to instantly access US dollars through the safest and most liquid assets in the world. This "firepower" is unattainable by any other stablecoin issuer.

Tether's strong position is not a coincidence. In 2022, Tether faced attacks from Sam Bankman-Fried and his company FTX. They attempted to trigger a bank run-like crisis by accumulating billions of USDT and selling them off within just two days. Ultimately, Tether successfully responded to redemption demands of up to $7 billion—equivalent to 10% of the circulating supply at the time.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pointed out in a recent episode of "Odd Lots" that a 10% run on deposits within 48 hours would be enough to bankrupt most financial institutions, yet Tether remained "unscathed."

In a sense, Tether is also somewhat resistant to fluctuations in U.S. Treasury yields: typically, when interest rates decline, economic activity increases, which drives the growth of Tether's deposits and the circulation of USDT (although yields may decrease, more funds can still bring substantial returns). Conversely, when interest rates rise, Tether can directly enhance profits through higher reserve yield.

Although the two may not completely offset each other, this structural dynamic is an advantage for Tether.

Critics of Tether often accuse the company of never having undergone a formal audit and speculate that USDT may be used for crime and money laundering. In response, Paul usually cites some cases illustrating how illegal funds often flow undetected through banks, credit card networks, and payment processors until they are flagged and frozen upon entering the Tether system. To date, Tether has assisted in over 400 law enforcement actions in the United States and has collaborated with 230 agencies from 50 countries.

Paul also believes that in regions like South America and Africa, Tether is essentially the last line of defense in the dollarization process. In these areas, "there is almost no presence of the United States," he mentioned on the "Odd Lots" program, "except for McDonald's."

"In these places, hospitals, schools, libraries, and airports are all built by China," Paul said. He also mentioned that China is promoting a gold-backed digital currency to pay all employees involved in these infrastructure projects. If this initiative is successful, it will threaten the dollar's status as the reserve currency and ultimately weaken America's global political influence.

In villages in Africa, Tether is building small stations equipped with solar panels, allowing people to rent batteries for 3 USDT per month. In these areas, electric power resources are extremely scarce, with 600 million people unable to access reliable electricity supply. Considering that the average monthly salary in these villages is around 80 dollars, this subscription service of 3 USDT is very affordable for local residents. Similar initiatives are also emerging in South America, where local small shops have started accepting USDT payments. These channels not only serve as grassroots distribution mechanisms for USDT (benefiting Tether's business growth), but also inadvertently promote the global influence of the dollar (which is good news for the US government).

Tether's ambitions go beyond just the stablecoin business. The company has also invested in artificial intelligence data centers, such as Northern Data, which has 24,000 GPUs. Additionally, Tether is developing a peer-to-peer (P2P) chat application named Keet.

Historically, the main issue with peer-to-peer applications has been poor user experience, and Tether is working to solve this problem. "We are looking for solutions to user experience (UX) issues, ultimately hoping to achieve a user experience similar to WhatsApp - but completely P2P," Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino stated during a Zoom meeting. The Holepunch protocol, which supports Keet, is actually a widely applicable peer-to-peer standard that can be used to build various decentralized systems.

"What if we could suddenly build a series of applications—from social media and messaging to enterprise applications—that not only reduce infrastructure costs by 97% but also enhance privacy and ensure that data belongs to its true users?"

In addition, Tether has developed a platform called Hadron for asset tokenization; launched a self-custodial open-source wallet; and invested in a brain-computer interface company.

In terms of the number of employees, the Tether team is not large, with only 150 people, but their loyalty is very high. "When we went through the toughest times, not a single person on my team left," Paul mentioned at a Cantor crypto conference.

He partially attributes this to Tether's hiring of talent primarily from emerging markets. "They know what is most important... They are willing to work for us because they see that we are genuinely trying to solve the real problems they face, rather than the problems that the wealthy world thinks they have," Paul explained.

Paul believes that Tether is a once-in-a-century company because it can "separate the creation of excellent technology from the demand for profit." In other words, the company can focus on innovation (not limited to USDT) without worrying about short-term profit pressures. Thanks to the substantial income generated by USDT, Tether has the capability to develop "the craziest technology" without rushing to make a profit.

"We will use our self-developed technology as a distribution layer to support our 'golden goose' - USDT. I believe no other company can achieve this," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in an interview.

"The more our technology can empower users, the more successful our core products will be. This is fundamentally different from traditional tech companies – they often need to trap users in a cage in order to sell more products."

One of the most reassuring parts of the Tether story is that its leadership has never forgotten the original intention of cryptocurrency. "Institutions will betray you for the benefit of a basis point ((0.01%)," Paul mentioned on the Odd Lots program. This attitude was once the consensus of the entire crypto community during the industry's early days, but it is gradually being forgotten now. The original intention of cryptocurrency is to shift power back from exploitative institutions to individuals.

Interestingly, one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in the crypto space today remains loyal to these original principles, while those who have abandoned their初心 in pursuit of money often end in failure, or even end up in jail. Equally rare is a company that is so profitable being able to genuinely help its user base: those who previously had no access to stable currencies in emerging markets. And all of this stems from Paul’s sincere belief: "I hope Tether is seen as... a positive contribution to the world."

When discussing his vision for Tether, Paul said: "The last 20 years have been very good for the Western world, but I don't believe the next 10 to 15 years will be as stable for the Western world. We are a stablecoin company... but perhaps we are more of a 'stability company.' Our technology is designed to bring stability to society, and that stability can start with currency."