Tether made $14 billion last year — more than Pfizer, Tesla, and BlackRock. It did that with no ads, almost no staff, and a product no one even thinks that much about: its stablecoin, USDT. With $147 billion in circulation, it’s the most used stablecoin in the world by a wide margin. And beyond its stablecoin, Tether is pursuing ambitious projects in AI, private messaging, and neurotech.

Every time someone buys USDT, Tether takes that cash and earns yield on it — mostly from US Treasuries. Tether was the seventh largest buyer of US treasuries in 2024, ahead of nations like Canada, Taiwan, and Norway. And its pace of growth is only increasing: total USDT issuance last year was $45 billion (57 percent year-over-year growth), and USDT users grew 13 percent in Q1 2025. Historically, Tether has been notoriously private, but it’s starting to share more about its vision for the future, now that the US regulatory environment has shifted in their favor.

Stablecoins are basically digital dollars that move on blockchains and are pegged 1:1 with USD. They effectively open up access to USD globally as a means of saving, and make money movement — particularly cross-border — much more efficient.