Tether, the company that issues the USDT stablecoin
What Tether means for a USDT holder
The price of USDT usually stays close to one dollar because Tether's reserves stand behind the tokens. How far those reserves can be trusted is shown by the reports of the firms that check them and by regulators' past claims against Tether.
Only customers who have passed an identity check on Tether's website can redeem USDT for dollars with Tether itself, starting from a large amount and for a fee.
Everyone else sells USDT on an exchange or to other people2.
Tether International is supervised by the Salvadoran regulator CNAD ⚖️. The company's own document states plainly that registration does not confirm the quality of the token or Tether's solvency, that is, its ability to meet its obligations2. A regulator's licence means only that the company operates legally in its country, and it does not guarantee that your money is safe.
- Tether International, «Relevant Information Document» tether.to ↩
- Tether, «Tether Licensed in El Salvador, Strengthening Focus on Emerging Markets and Innovation» tether.io ↩
- Tether, «About Us» tether.to ↩
- Tether, «Tether Gold Holdings Rise 9.5% in Q2 as Demand for Tokenized Gold Remains Strong Through Market Volatility» tether.io · Tether, «Tether Announces the Launch of USA₮, the Federally Regulated, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin, Made in America» tether.io ↩
- Tether, «Tether Posts Strong Q2 Performance, Generates $1.5B Net Operating Profit, Maintains $4.11B Reserve Buffer, and Expands Gold Holdings to More Than 146 Tons» tether.io · Tether, «Tether Completes the Largest Inaugural Financial Audit in History» tether.io ↩
- New York State Attorney General, «Attorney General James Ends Virtual Currency Trading Platform Bitfinex's Illegal Activities in New York» ag.ny.gov · CFTC, «CFTC Orders Tether and Bitfinex to Pay Fines Totaling $42.5 Million» cftc.gov ↩
- Wikipedia, «Tether Limited» en.wikipedia.org ↩
What Tether does
Tether's main business is issuing USDT, which is transferred on various networks, such as Tron and Ethereum. The company issues new tokens against customers' dollars, holds reserves behind them and destroys tokens when they are redeemed. How this works for a holder, which networks are supported and what backs USDT is covered in the USDT profile.
How the Tether group is organized
Tether is several related companies, each with its own task. It is like a chain of shops where one firm owns the brand, another runs the till and a third keeps the warehouse, while the customer sees only the sign. The one that matters most to a USDT holder is Tether International, which issues USDT, redeems it for dollars and deals with customers ⚖️2.
Until 2025 most of the group's companies were registered in the British Virgin Islands3. That is why the 2021 regulatory documents use the earlier names: Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Limited, Tether Operations Limited and Tether International Limited4. If you come across "Tether Limited" in an older article, it refers to the same group before the move.
Who runs Tether
Paolo Ardoino has been Tether's CEO since December 2023, and before that he was the company's chief technology officer. He replaced Jean-Louis van der Velde, who moved to an adviser role at Tether5. More on his public roles is in the Paolo Ardoino profile. The leadership team may change.
How Tether is connected to the Bitfinex exchange
Tether and the Bitfinex exchange are separate companies with a shared history. In 2021 New York's Attorney General found that both are owned and run by the same small group of people ⚖️6. The companies also partly share their leaders. In 2023 van der Velde stayed on as CEO of Bitfinex, and Ardoino as its chief technology officer5.
How Tether's reserves are checked
Once a quarter Tether publishes a reserve report as of the last day of the quarter, and since July 2022 it has been prepared by the audit firm BDO7. Such a report is like counting the cash register at the end of the day: it shows what was in the reserves on one date. The report for the second quarter of 2026 came out on 31 July and describes the reserves as of 30 June8.
In August 2026 Tether said it had passed a full audit for the first time, that is, a check of all the company's accounts for the year. The audit firm KPMG audited Tether International's 2025 accounts and issued a clean opinion, meaning it confirmed the accounts without reservations9. A KPMG representative confirmed this to the publication The Block, while as of 30.10.2026 Tether had not published the accounts themselves or the auditor's opinion1011. The difference between a reserve report and an audit is explained in more detail in the article what are reserves.
Tether's regulatory history
Both 2021 cases concern Tether's descriptions of USDT reserves in 2016–2019, and both ended in settlements: the companies agreed to the regulators' terms and paid ⚖️.
Settlement with the New York Attorney General in 2021
On 23 February 2021 the New York Attorney General announced a settlement with iFinex, the company that runs Bitfinex, and with the Tether companies ⚖️. The companies paid the State of New York 18.5 million dollars, stopped trading with New York residents and undertook to report to the Attorney General's office regularly, including on transfers between Bitfinex and Tether. Tether also had to disclose publicly what kinds of assets make up its reserves, including loans to related companies. According to the prosecutors, Tether had no bank account from mid-2017, and at times USDT was not backed by reserves at a dollar per token6.
The CFTC order in 2021
On 15 October 2021 the US futures market regulator (CFTC) ordered four Tether companies to pay 41 million dollars ⚖️. From June 2016 to February 2019 Tether called USDT fully backed by dollars. In fact, during the years examined, 2016–2018, there were enough dollars to cover all issued tokens on only about one day in four, 27.6% of days. The company counted unsecured debts that other companies owed it, and assets that were not money, as part of its reserves, and did not disclose this. Some of the reserves were held by third parties and mixed with Bitfinex's funds. That is why it is more reliable to judge the reserves from the checking firm's reports and from regulators' documents, comparing the company's statements against them412.
When Tether freezes USDT
If the police, a regulator or another government body asks, Tether can freeze the USDT held at a particular address. Under its own rules it can also freeze tokens, destroy them ("burn" them) or block a transfer ⚖️2. For example, in April 2026 Tether, together with the US Treasury's sanctions office (OFAC) and US law enforcement, froze more than 344 million dollars in USDT at two addresses ⚖️13. The company reports the total amounts frozen in its news.
The USDT profile explains what a freeze means for an ordinary holder and how to avoid receiving "dirty" money. If your address has been frozen, contact the company only through the contacts on the official website tether.to, and don't rush to pay middlemen who promise to unblock it.
Tether and the US stablecoin law
The GENIUS Act, the US law on stablecoins, takes effect on 18 January 2027 ⚖️14. For the US market, in January 2026 Tether launched a separate stablecoin, USAT (USA₮ on Tether's website), and as of 30.10.2026 USDT operates outside the US15. According to the company, USDT itself is moving toward compliance with the law ⚖️16.
More detail on the group's structure, other tokens and investments
Tether International is registered in San Salvador and is wholly owned by two other Salvadoran companies of the group, Tether Global Investment Fund and Tether Operations ⚖️ The CNAD register lists it as a licensed stablecoin issuer and as a digital asset service provider under number PSAD-00282. The office in Lugano, Switzerland, remained after the move3.
In March 2025 Simon McWilliams became chief financial officer, and Giancarlo Devasini, who had held that post before, became chairman of the group17.
Besides USDT, the group issues the gold token XAU₮. One whole token corresponds to one troy ounce of gold in a bar, which is about 31 grams. It is issued by a separate Salvadoran company, TG Commodities18. Tether invests part of its earnings in other companies, for example in bitcoin mining and the video platform Rumble19. The company announces new investments in its news section.
The USAT token is issued by the US national bank Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., the reserves are held by Cantor Fitzgerald, and Tether's US unit, Tether USA₮, is headed by Bo Hines15.
