Tether CTO Reveals: The World's Largest Bitcoin Miner, Agricultural Layouts, and AI Wallet Plans

Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino recently accepted an interview with the Bankless podcast, where he elaborated on Tether's global strategic layout, profitability, stance on the GENIUS Act, and future development direction. Here are the main points from the interview:

Tether's View on the GENIUS Act

Paolo stated that the GENIUS Act is an important step in the right direction, establishing a compliance framework for both domestic and foreign stablecoins. Tether has already been promoting a localized stablecoin project in the United States, and the passage of the GENIUS Act provides a clear path for such projects.

Tether currently holds over $125 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds, with a total equity of approximately $176 billion and a market capitalization of the USDT stablecoin at $155 billion. In addition to the 100% reserves of USDT, it also retains around $6 billion in excess reserves. Compared to traditional banks that usually only keep 10% of liquid assets, Tether has over 105% in full reserves.

Tether's Distribution Strategy

Paolo emphasized that Tether's growth mainly comes from the real usage demand in emerging markets, with over 60% being "grassroots" level demand for US dollars. Tether has built a large distribution network by investing in over 100 companies and has set up stablecoin exchange booths in regions such as Africa.

Paolo expects that the next wave of growth for USDT will come from the commodity trading sector. Almost all major commodity traders are in contact with Tether, as USDT allows them to make their settlement processes extremely efficient.

Bitcoin Mining Layout

Paolo revealed that Tether expects to become the world's largest Bitcoin Miner by the end of this year. Tether is deploying mining farms in multiple countries, including the United States. As Bitcoin block rewards approach zero, on-chain transaction fees will rise significantly, which will be a natural evolutionary path for the continued operation of the Bitcoin network.

Gold Stablecoin and Physical Redemption

Tether's gold stablecoin is backed by physical gold held in a vault controlled by itself. Currently, Tether holds approximately 80 tons of gold stablecoins and its own gold combined. Users can exchange tokens for physical gold bars, but they need to hold a complete gold bar worth ( approximately 400 ounces represented by the number of tokens.

AI Wallet Plan

Paolo revealed that Tether is building the WDKS) Wallet Development Kit for Smart agents(, which is a fully open-source wallet development toolkit. Tether may launch its own multi-chain wallet by the end of this year, supporting all networks.

Attitude Towards the United States

Paolo emphasized that Tether is beneficial to the United States. Tether is a major buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds and promotes the global circulation of the dollar, reinvesting heavily in the U.S. The passage of the "GENIUS Act" will enable Tether to continue this contribution in a more robust manner.