Inside Tether's $13-Billion Year and Move to El Salvador with CEO Paolo Ardoino

El Salvador has rapidly become a focal point in the global cryptocurrency conversation, and at the heart of its next big bet is Tether, the company behind world's largest stablecoin.

Tether just notched a record $13.7 billion in annual profits, and made the announcement at the Plan B Forum in El Salvador, where we caught up with CEO Paolo Ardoino. Weeks earlier, the company also announced it would be moving its headquarters to the country that was made famous for becoming the first to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, and has now racked up more than $115 million in paper profits by buying Bitcoin.

Interestingly, around the same time of the conference — and following a new $1.4 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund — El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele pivoted course in the Bitcoin experiment to make accepting payments in Bitcoin optional. As it appears, that's opened up a massive opportunity for Tether inside a country that already uses the U.S. dollar as its form of currency.

"I've never had a great experience with politicians," Ardoino explains in a new exclusive interview with Coinage. "And yet here in El Salvador, you see the President, he actually [does] care about it. He's living proof that if you have a President, if you have a politician that really deeply cares about his own country, they can make a 180-degree turnaround."

That turnaround has been monumental for citizens of the country (which now also includes the Italian-born Ardoino.) On the ground, Coinage spoke with many El Salvadorians about the country's reversal, sparked after President Bukele's crackdown on gang violence and crime. In under a decade, El Salvador's homicide rate has plummeted by more than 97% to one of the lowest in the Americas. As Ardoino explains, the decision to establish Tether’s presence in El Salvador is about more than just business — it’s about contributing to a nation on the rise that's open to experimentation.

As accepting Bitcoin becomes optional in the country, Tether now sits in prime position to capitalize on helping a population that's already familiar with crypto payments — ever since the government launched its own digital Chivo wallet in 2021 and tried to spark adoption by airdropping $30 worth of Bitcoin to users. As even President Bukele recently admitted, Bitcoin payment adoption has underperformed expectations. As Ardoino explains, it's natural to want to try something different.

"I know that some Bitcoiners made a lot of noise around it, but to me, it should have been [optional] from the beginning," Ardoino said. "It allowed the country to explore Bitcoin, but also allows companies like Tether, stablecoins to be an important piece of infrastructure here because USDT is already heavily used in the country."

As El Salvador's crypto experiment shifts to one potentially more dominated by stablecoins and payments, it appears remittances and tokenization look to become the larger win-wins. Crypto exchange Bitfinex, which Ardoino also supports as Chief Technology Officer, has also descended on El Salvador. The Bitfinex team hosted a side event at the conference demonstrating the opportunities ahead in tokenizing all kinds of things out of El Salvador.

And yet, as big of a bet Tether and Ardoino seem to be making in El Salvador, they have the ultimate trump card in their back pocket in the United States as well. Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick has been a long-time defender of Tether as Cantor has helped custody the billions of dollars Tether holds in U.S. treasuries to back its stablecoin. President Trump has since tapped Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, and during his confirmation hearing Lutnick defended that he would serve fairly in the role if confirmed.

"I have never suggested to anyone that I would do anything improper with respect to Tether,” Lutnick said. He also warned that “the U.S. Congress should be careful not to undermine dollar hegemony on blockchain through legislation.”

As the global stablecoin landscape evolves, Tether finds itself navigating increasing competition and regulatory scrutiny, but Ardoino largely came across as unfazed by Circle's USDC or even Ripple launching their RLUSD stablecoin.

"Look at what Bitcoiners say about them, then look at what Bitcoiners say about us," he said at the Plan B conference. "All the Bitcoiners are here for a reason, because we share the ethos, the philosophy of Bitcoin." Indeed, in Tether's latest attestation, the stablecoin issuer held about $7.8 billion in its reserves compared to about $118 billion in U.S. treasury bills, cash and cash equivalents.

As Tether looks to double down on aligning its ethos with that of the Bitcoin community, Ardoino explained how Tether has expanded its mandate to direct its profits to support broader investments. Recently, Tether has increasingly sprinkled bets in everything from a $775 million investment in video platform Rumble to a $1 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure company Northern Data — and even $200 million in brain-chip maker Blackrock Neurotech. For Ardoino, Tether’s commitment is clear: building a network that not only expands access to digital dollars but also creates real-world infrastructure to support various freedoms.

"On one side of the world, you have the big tech companies. On the other side, you have the financial companies like BlackRock, Google. We are both. We are becoming one of the biggest financial companies in the world and we are one of the biggest technology producers in the world," he said. As Tether deepens its presence in El Salvador and beyond, Ardoino envisions a future where digital financial tools empower people globally, particularly in regions historically underserved by traditional finance.

"We can actually create a company that is going to change the world for good," he said. "There is a song, an Iron Maiden song that I like a lot. It's called 'Die With Your Boots On.' That’s the type of people we are."

Coinage members can watch our full interview with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino above. To support our community-owned outlet, own it with us, and unlock other exclusive benefits, mint one of our Membership Passes today or Stake with us today! Chat with Coinage in our Discord.