Stablecoin Tether seeks to raise US$20 billion

If successful, company valuation at OpenAI level

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is seeking to raise US$20 billion (about KRW 28 trillion). Analysts say that in this fundraising, Tether's valuation could reach US$500 billion (about KRW 698 trillion).

According to Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), Tether has recently been negotiating to issue new shares equivalent to about 3% of its equity and sell them in a private placement for US$15 billion to US$20 billion. Investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald is reported to be participating as the lead underwriter.

If the funding is secured, Tether's valuation is expected to reach up to US$500 billion. That's similar in scale to OpenAI, the developer of 'ChatGPT', or Elon Musk's SpaceX. The market capitalization of Tether's competitor, the publicly listed Circle Internet Group, was US$30 billion that day.

Tether currently has a high market share in the global stablecoin industry. The market capitalization of the stablecoin Tether (USDT) is currently US$172 billion, far exceeding the US$74 billion of second-place Circle's USD Coin (USDC).

Tether has generated substantial profits by placing the reserves backing the stablecoin in cash-like assets such as U.S. Treasury securities and earning interest. According to a Tether statement in July, it recorded profits of US$4.9 billion (about KRW 6.8 trillion) in the second quarter of this year. However, the figures Tether discloses are not subject to the same level of regulation as the disclosure standards for publicly listed companies.

Reporter Donghyun Kim 3code@hankyung.com