Tether is urging investors to commit to a fundraising round at a $500 billion valuation within the next two weeks, warning it may postpone the raise if investor demand is insufficient.
The El Salvador-based company has been seeking new capital since late last year but has encountered pushback from investors concerned about the valuation, The Information reported Friday, citing unnamed sources. If commitments do not meet expectations, Tether is likely to delay the fundraising.
A $500 billion valuation would place Tether among the world’s largest financial firms, surpassing every U.S. bank except JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan’s market capitalization is about $794.55 billion, while Bank of America’s market cap is roughly $352.86 billion.
Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin—the world’s largest stablecoin—has a market cap of about $184 billion. The company also issues Tether Gold (XAUt) and Tether EURt (EURt), a euro-pegged token.
In September, Bloomberg reported Tether was considering a fundraising round of up to $20 billion that could value the company near $500 billion. The plan discussed raising $15 billion to $20 billion via a private placement for roughly a 3% stake, with Cantor Fitzgerald as lead adviser.
After that report, CEO Paolo Ardoino posted on X that Tether was exploring a raise from a select group of investors to scale “existing and new business lines (stablecoins, distribution ubiquity, AI, commodity trading, energy, communications, media) by several orders of magnitude.”
In February, Ardoino told Cointelegraph that earlier $20 billion figures were hypothetical scenarios rather than an active fundraising plan and denied that Tether was definitively seeking that amount. He nonetheless defended the $500 billion valuation, likening the company’s profit potential to AI platforms such as OpenAI.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for comment but did not receive a response by publication.
Separately, Tether has reportedly hired KPMG to perform its first full audit of USDt’s financial statements, with PwC assisting in preparing internal systems, according to the Financial Times. The engagement would mark a shift from relying on reserve attestations by BDO Italia to a comprehensive audit.
A full audit would go beyond reserve snapshots to review assets, liabilities and internal controls across Tether’s balance sheet.
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