{"id":21268,"date":"2026-02-04T08:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T08:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/tethers-500b-valuation-pitch-faces-pushback-as-advisors-float-5b-raise-report\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T08:48:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T08:48:38","slug":"tethers-500b-valuation-pitch-faces-pushback-as-advisors-float-5b-raise-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/tethers-500b-valuation-pitch-faces-pushback-as-advisors-float-5b-raise-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Tether\u2019s $500B valuation pitch faces pushback as advisors float $5B raise: report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Tether has reportedly rolled back plans to raise as much as $20 billion in a funding round that would have positioned the stablecoin issuer as one of the most valuable private companies in the world.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_c078e4c970d43ce060f9aa0d03083497\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tether has reportedly scaled back its fundraising target from $20 billion to as little as $5 billion.<\/li>\n<li>CEO Paolo Ardoino has said the $15 to $20 billion figure was a maximum threshold.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino downplayed the size of the reported raise, which would have placed the company\u2019s valuation near $500 billion, calling it a \u201cmisconception,\u201d the Financial Times <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/3f7f0306-4bc2-43e1-8370-ea251229e5b6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">reported<\/a> on Feb. 4.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat number is not our goal. It\u2019s our maximum we were ready to sell,\u201d Ardoino said during an interview appearance.<\/p>\n<p>However, people familiar with the matter told FT that Tether\u2019s advisers, which include industry heavyweights like Cantor Fitzgerald, have floated the possibility of raising a mere $5 billion after encountering reluctance from prospective investors.<\/p>\n<p>Reports that the USDT issuer was considering a multibillion-dollar fundraising round first surfaced in September last year. At the time, it was reported that the company was in early discussions with a select group of high-profile investors and would issue new equity rather than sell existing shares.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>According to FT, Ardoino said that Tether has received \u201ca lot of interest\u201d at the $500 billion valuation, but the company remains undecided on how much equity it would ultimately sell, as some insiders remain reluctant to part with their stakes.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the momentum behind the raise was supported by recent progress in terms of regulatory clarity, especially after stablecoin legislation was passed in the United States and Circle, Tether\u2019s direct competitor, completed a successful public debut.<\/p>\n<p>Sources cited in the report said that talks are still ongoing and that investor sentiment may shift if the broader crypto market, which has struggled in recent months, begins to recover.<\/p>\n<p>They also noted that some investors remain cautious about the regulatory risks still surrounding Tether.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ardoino, Tether has demonstrated \u201cthe depth\u201d of its compliance infrastructure and its ability to collaborate with various law enforcement agencies, the report noted.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tether Navigates Headwinds in 2025<\/h1>\n<p>Tether\u2019s profits declined in 2025 when compared to the previous year, which Ardoino attributed to Bitcoin\u2019s underperformance throughout the last quarter. Further, S&amp;P Global Ratings <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-11-26\/tether-stablecoin-stability-rating-reduced-to-weak-at-s-p\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">downgraded<\/a> Tether\u2019s reserves to its weakest tier due to increased exposure to high-risk assets such as Bitcoin and gold.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Tether\u2019s flagship product, USDT, continues to dominate the stablecoin market and commands a market cap of over $185 billion as of last check.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Tether has continued to strengthen its gold holdings, which, according to Ardoino, netted the stablecoin issuer between $8 billion and $10 billion during the precious metal rally that unfolded over the past months.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tether has reportedly rolled back plans to raise as much as $20 billion in a funding round that would have positioned the stablecoin issuer as one of the most valuable&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21269,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21268\/revisions\/21269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}