Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalisation, has promoted Paolo Ardoino to the top position of CEO.
As per the 13 October announcement, Ardoino will act as the new CEO from December 2023 onwards. He has been serving as Tether’s chief technology officer since 2017. He will also be retaining his role as the chief technology officer at Tether’s sister company – Bitfinex and chief strategy officer of Holepunch after the transfer in position at Tether.
Founded in 2012, Bitfinex is the longest-running and most liquid major cryptocurrency exchange. Holepunch, on the other hand, is a peer-to-peer (P2P) company that facilitates the creation of apps that don’t use any servers. It provides a collection of small Javascript modules that can be combined to create an unlimited variety of P2P apps, from VPNs to communications tools like Keet.
With about $83.5billion worth of $USDT in circulation, Tether reigns as the third-biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH). The stablecoin is widely used in crypto-to-crypto trading. It holds a constant value of $1, where the company maintains its peg by Tether’s holdings of dollar-based assets, including US Treasuries.
Back when Ardoino became Tether’s CTO in 2017, the stablecoin’s market capitalisation was less than some $100m. After a period of exponential growth in 2022, the same figure has now grown to over $83bn now.
In taking up the new role, Ardoino will be replacing the former CEO, Jean-Louis van der Velde, who will be transitioning into an advisory role. The latter will also remain as Bitfinex’s CEO. Talking about the new top executive, Jean-Louis van der Velde said: “Paolo is extremely well-suited to lead Tether into this exciting new era.
“I believe Tether is poised to continue its rapid growth, with a continued focus on emerging markets and transformative technology. I think I can speak for the entire company when I say that we eagerly anticipate Paolo’s leadership as he guides Tether toward a future where finance knows no bounds.”
Back in May this year, Tether made headlines for launching a mining operation in Uruguay, aimed at utilising renewable energy sources aimed to generate a “sustainable” Bitcoin. It then unveiled a $BTC mining software in August to enhance the efficient management of mining capacity, leading to more effective operations.
Recently, Tether also announced strengthening its reserves by injecting an additional $850m. At the end of Q2 2023, its total excess reserves came up to $3.3bn, reflecting the team’s focus on stability and transparency.
Paolo Ardoino, who acted as the CTO back then, expressed much pride in Tether’s reserves attestation in the report. It also demonstrated the company’s unwavering dedication to transparency, said the new CEO: “Transparency is not just a buzzword for us; it is the cornerstone of our philosophy. We believe that open communication and strong financials foster trust and reliability, and this is what the global community deserves especially in a year devastated by many failures across the banking and crypto industry.”
By continuously improving Tether’s reserve attestation process, the company aims to set new standards in the industry and inspire others to follow suit, said Ardoino on that occasion. He also promised the community to remain dedicated to embracing accountability, enhancing risk management and security, leading by example.
