Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino denies rumors of launching a blockchain

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has debunked rumors that the stablecoin issuer wants to launch a blockchain network. In a reaction to a post by popular crypto personality Ansem asking whether Tether is launching a blockchain, Ardoino simply responded NO.

This is not the first time rumors of a Tether blockchain will surface on X. The CEO has debunked the news in the past, explaining why the company is not considering having its own blockchain.

In response to similar rumors in November 2024, he noted that Tether was not working on a blockchain network at the time.

Ardoino said:

“I hear again a few rumors about a Tether Chain. Tether is not planning to build an official blockchain at this time. Simply different independent L2 solutions are working to support $USDt for gas fees.”

According to Ardoino, Tether is focused on supporting the integration of USDT across various blockchain networks instead of having a proprietary network. He explained that neutrality is central to Tether’s operations as the firm believes in collaboration to achieve its goals.

However, he avoided saying that Tether would never create its own blockchain network at the time, noting t that he does not want to remove that possibility.

Tether USDT is already integrated into over a dozen blockchain networks. While many believe that a Tether chain will finally allow payments of gas fees in USDT, Ardoino had mentioned that some L2s might enable that. Tether is set to integrate USDT into the Bitcoin base layer and Lightning network very soon.

Tether goes big on  AI

Meanwhile, the speculation about Tether launching a blockchain is unsurprising, given that several other successful crypto companies have made similar moves. Companies such as Coinbase, Ink, OKX, and others have launched their own layer-2 blockchain networks in the past few years.

However, Tether’s diversification has taken a different approach, with the firm choosing to focus on artificial intelligence. The company has been busy with AI development and plans to launch its open-source AI software development kit (SDK) platform, Tether Data.

The open-source AI model training platform is expected to work locally on any device, from budget mobile phones to high-performing computers. Similar to this, the company is also building Keet, a peer-to-peer chat app, and it is leveraging Holepunch technology for most of its development.

Tether USDT reaches new high

Despite its diversification and push for open-source AI, USDT stablecoin remains Tether’s bread and butter. The company recently reported making $13.7 billion in profits in 2024, including $6 billion in Q4 alone, making it one of the most profitable companies last year.

Meanwhile, USDT recently hit $141 billion in market cap, marking an all-time high in supply for the stablecoin. This highlights its continued growth even as it faces some headwinds about regulatory pressures in the US and Europe for not being compliant.

Nevertheless, USDT dominance continues to fall as other stablecoins also see an increase in supply. It has now fallen to 63.8%, mostly due to Circle USDC having seen more significant growth during the period.

USDC’s supply increased by 21% in the past month compared to 3% for USDT. USDC has a $55 billion market cap and has added almost $10 billion in the last 30 days.

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