Tether launches U.S.-regulated stablecoin USAT

Tether has officially launched USAT, a U.S.-regulated stablecoin—a cryptocurrency designed to have a stable value, often pegged to a fiat currency. Issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, the launch of USAT marks a major shift for the company. Tether currently manages $187 billion in global circulation of USDT and serves 536 million users, with its user base growing at 30 million per quarter. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino compared the company’s growth rate to that of Facebook rather than a typical fintech application. Ardoino claims that “what Tether created is the biggest financial inclusion success story in the history of humanity,” pointing to users in countries like Argentina and Haiti who seek to preserve value against weak local currencies.

The launch of USAT represents a departure from Tether’s history as an offshore entity. The company has previously been characterized as “opaque, possibly fraudulent” and a “money launderer’s dream.” Specifically, Russian money launderer Ekaterina Zhdanova allegedly used Tether to connect British drug gangs, Moscow hackers, sanctioned oligarchs, and Russian intelligence operatives. Ardoino has countered these characterizations by highlighting Tether’s cooperation with law enforcement. The company works with almost 300 law enforcement agencies across more than 60 countries and has frozen $3.5 billion in tokens. In 2023, Tether proactively identified $225 million in a “pig-butchering scam”—a type of investment fraud involving befriending victims before luring them into fake investments.

Tether is leveraging its significant financial position to expand into gold, AI, and infrastructure. The company’s reserves are held at Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm led by Howard Lutnick before he became U.S. Commerce Secretary. Ardoino notes that Tether operates differently from traditional banks using a fractional reserve system—a banking system where only a fraction of deposits are held as cash. Key financial and investment metrics for the company include:

• Excess reserves: Tether holds $30 billion in excess reserves, according to Ardoino.
• 2025 Profit: Fortune reported that Tether generated more than $15 billion in profit for 2025.
• Gold holdings: Tether Gold, launched in 2020, has $2.6 billion in circulation. The company holds around 140 tons of gold, worth roughly $24 billion.
• AI and media investments: Tether has invested more than $1 billion in German AI robotics firm Neura and $775 million in social media platform Rumble.

Why it matters

Tether is attempting to bridge the gap between its massive, opaque offshore operations and the U.S. regulatory environment, signaling a potential shift in how stablecoin issuers compete for legitimacy and market share against incumbents like Circle.