Tether hints at competing with corporate miners

Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, said the company could become a leading BTC miner in 2025, branching out to boost network security. The statement came after Tether disclosed holdings of 100K BTC, making it one of the most significant whales with long-term reserves. 

Tether may become one of the leading miners after taking up the role of securing the network, said the company’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, during the Big Brain podcast. While Tether has been a part of the crypto ecosystem in multiple ways, there have been no explicit mentions of building actual mining infrastructure. 

‘I think that it is clear that if you have $1 million and you have to decide where to put it, either in bitcoin mining or in buying bitcoin directly, you would always make more money buying bitcoin directly,’ said Ardoino. 

‘But in our case, I think given the exposure that we have to Bitcoin, it’s important to be part of the security of the network. Realistically, by the end of this year, Tether will become the biggest bitcoin miner out there.’

Tether has not disclosed its current hashrate, though it has made known investments into energy infrastructure in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador. Tether supports multiple elements in the local energy infrastructure, while also owning undisclosed shares in third-party mining companies. 

Tether hints at competing with corporate miners

Tether may expand its mining influence at a time when the Bitcoin network is working at a record hashrate, and remains profitable for most participants. 

The Bitcoin network hashrate recently fell to a six-month low, sinking back to around 700 EH/s. This would translate into a lower network difficulty and easier competition for miners. The easier mining arrives at a time when BTC managed to recover above $107,000, making block production still profitable for most pools. 

There are a few remaining miners with solo operations, as even big data centers often add their hashrate to pools. Some of the biggest operations include Mara Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN, Core Scientific, and others. Tether itself has not reported the exact hashrate or share of mining operations. 

Unlike corporate miners, Tether has also not positioned itself as a BTC treasury company, despite its vast holdings accrued over the years. Tether also denied rumors of going public or tying its stock price to BTC holdings. 

Earlier this year, Tether shared that it intends to set aside another $500M for mining activity. Tether also stated it would point most of its mining capacity at Ocean Pool, a relatively small operation with 9.61 EH/s. 

So far, Tether has only contributed a part of the pool’s hashrate, and there are no signs the company holds enough capacity to surpass giant operations like Mara Holdings with over 57 EH/s. Tether’s known wallets also rarely show BTC inflows, especially those identifiable as originating with mining pools. 

Ocean Pool aims to offer zero-fee access, as well as direct decentralized payments for all participants. If Tether is indeed serious about becoming a leading miner, the pool’s hashrate may reflect the expansion.

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