Tether scales back plan to raise $20 billion after investor pressure

Tether has scaled back its ambitious fundraising plans after encountering rejections and skepticism from major investors. The company initially discussed a $15–20 billion round that would have placed it among the most valuable private businesses in the world. Now, according to sources, the target has shifted to roughly $5 billion, and CEO Paolo Ardoino describes the earlier figures as a “misunderstanding,” saying Tether would be “just as happy” even if it sold no equity at all.

Ardoino emphasized that $20 billion was never a goal but simply the upper limit the company was willing to consider if investor appetite had materialized. He insisted that Tether remains highly profitable and has already received substantial interest from those willing to invest at a $500 billion valuation.

Such a valuation puts Tether in the same league as OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and ByteDance. But several investors voiced concerns: heavy reliance on USDT, regulatory uncertainty, and the absence of a full audit of reserves made the deal difficult to justify. Internally, Tether insiders are also reluctant to sell equity, which further shapes the structure of the round.

With USDT’s market cap around $185 billion, Tether frames the capital raise as a way to strengthen trust among global financial institutions. The election of Donald Trump boosted expectations of looser stablecoin regulation, but a broader downturn in crypto over the past six months has dampened appetite for high-risk assets.

Sources say skepticism about Tether’s valuation is also tied to competition for capital: the company must now compete with high-growth AI unicorns for investor dollars. Ardoino, however, argues the comparison favors Tether: “AI companies post the same figures we do – just with a minus sign,” he said, pointing to their multibillion-dollar losses.

Investor concerns intensified after S&P Global downgraded Tether’s reserve rating to the lowest tier, citing an increasing share of high-risk assets – primarily bitcoin and gold. Ardoino fired back: “We wear your disdain as a badge of honor,” adding that these volatile assets generated roughly $8–10 billion in profits on the back of gold’s surge in 2025.

Sources note that deal dynamics could shift quickly if crypto enters a new bull cycle. For now, Tether is emphasizing its cooperation with law enforcement and arguing that transparency and profitability should justify its long-term ambitions.