Last month, Cryptocurrency Company Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino joined the business executives and US lawmakers for a private lunch at Willard, a luxury hotel near the White House.
For years, Tether faced accusations of lying about his finances, allowing crimes to flourish on the platform. But in Willard, Aldoino and other cryptography leaders were warmly welcomed by Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. He attended lunch and four people took part in group discussions on digital currency regulations and national security with knowledge of the event.
This episode was a sign of a changing landscape for crypto companies as President Trump embraced the industry. Once an international operator with little public footprint in the United States, Tether is taking advantage of a shift to establish a presence in Washington.
Since Trump took office, Tether has pushed to restructure crypto regulations in light of starting operations in the US. The company's main product is a cryptocurrency known as Stablecoin, which is designed to maintain a price of $1. Tether is pushing Congress to influence the Senate bill introduced this year by Hagerty. They then launched a public relations campaign featuring advertising in Insider Washington publications that trumpet collaboration with US law enforcement.
For years, Tether was considered suspicious. Its Stablecoin has proven to be a popular tool among criminals. In 2021, he paid $18.5 million to resolve a fraud investigation by the New York Attorney General.
But within days of taking office, Trump, who started crypto with his sons last year, ended the Biden administration's crackdown on digital assets. Crypto companies that once eschewed a country that feared regulatory sanctions now enjoy amazing access to Congress and the White House.
No code enforcer would shift as much as Aldoino, an Italian who has never visited the US until this year. On a trip to Washington in March, he met with lawmakers, joined a forum hosted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and interacted with fellow executives in the party sponsored by Coinbase, a crypto exchange.
In a recent interview and social media post, Aldoino cast herself as a simple foreigner enjoying a scenic tour of America, posted photos of herself at the Capitol and the White House, and visited the Central Park Zoo and the Museum of Natural History.
“I'm very naive,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. “I'm sure I'll have my first New York Italian movie at age 40.”
Personally, Aldoino boasts that Tether has a strong alliance. The company's most well-known business partner is investment bank Canter Fitzgerald. Until this year, it was run by Howard Rutnick, Trump's Secretary of Commerce. One of Tether's main lobbyists is Jeff Miller. Jeff Miller is an influential figure in Republican politics and represents Canter Fitzgerald in the discussions about the Stubcoin bill.
On his recent trip, Aldoino said he also met Zach Witkoff, the leader of Trump's Crypto Company, World Liberty Financial and the son of White House envoy to the Middle East. Tether then sought advice on the strategy of Washitz, the founder's corporate public relations firm, including former Republican House Speakers Miller and Kevin McCarthy.
“I met Kevin several times,” Aldoino said. “We're in a good relationship,” he added, “Because we respect the line that he hasn't been involved with Howard while he's in power,” he added.
Rutnick's representative did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Miller called Tether “the ultimate American ally” and said he was “prideful to represent them.” A spokesman for Hagerty said the senator attended lunch in March “to talk about the link between digital assets and national security.”
Even in Crypto's wild world, the story of Tether's Origin stands out with its cast of characters. The company was founded 11 years ago by former child actor Brock Pierce. Pierce and his business partners later handed over the company control to Italian Giancarlo Devasini, who once worked as a plastic surgeon.
Currently, a crypto billionaire, Devasini lives in Switzerland and rarely speaks publicly. For the majority of the past decade, former software developer Ardoino, who joined Tether Affiliate in 2014, has been the company's public face.
Tether's products are designed to address the important drawbacks of traditional cryptocurrencies. This is always more valuable and inconvenient to use for payments and other standard transactions. Stablecoins maintains a $1 price, so many crypto investors prefer to use it in trading.
In many ways, tethers and other issuers operate like banks. Traders deposit $500 and receive 500 stub coins. The issuer generates revenue by investing some of these deposits and maintaining its own returns. However, the system only works if the issuer has one spare for each coin sent to circulation, and the customer can redeem the holding at any time.
For years, Tether critics pointed to evidence that the money it had saved was insufficient to cover the surge in redemption. When the New York Attorney General's Office announced the 2021 settlement, Tether said he had lied about the composition of its reserves and called the cryptocurrency “unstable and stable.”
“Tether's reputation should be relevant to everyone,” California president Maxine Waters, a top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview.
Still, Tether repeatedly managed to get over the scenery. The company is currently publishing an audit of its accounts, indicating that about two-thirds of its reserves, or about $94 billion, have been invested in US Treasury bills.
Last year, Tether recorded profits of over $13 billion, making it one of the richest cryptocurrency operations in the world. In December, it invested $775 million in Rumble, a right-wing streaming platform that has worked closely with the president's social media company Trump Media & Technology Group. They also announced plans to build a headquarters in El Salvador called the Tether Tower.
Tether's most powerful US ally is Mr. Rutnik. Cantor Fitzgerald owns a multi-billion-dollar US Treasury Department for Tether, giving crypto companies a luster of mainstream reliability. At the Bitcoin Conference last summer, Rutnick told the crowd that he could personally confirm that the tether coins were fully backed up.
“We found all the pennies,” he said at the event.
After Mr. Lutnick was confirmed as Secretary of Commerce, he handed over control of Cantor Fitzgerald to his son. Now, Canter Fitzgerald and Tether are working with lobbyist Miller to shape the Washington stubcoin rule, according to the lobbying disclosure form. The Senate version of the Stablecoin Act, the Genius Act, sets guidelines for US publishers to ensure that businesses maintain appropriate reserves.
However, officially the guidelines for national innovation and established laws for the US Stablecoins Act include provisions that allow foreign issuers to sell coins without following new rules, depending on the requirements of certain law enforcement agencies. At a recent Banking Committee hearing, Democrat senators criticized the clause, calling it a “huge loophole” to help Tether.
“My Republican colleagues seem worried about facing backlash from Donald Trump's close friends and one of our country's secretaries of commerce,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, said at the hearing.
Ultimately, the Banking Committee voted to move the bill into the full Senate.
In an interview, Aldoino said he was “very excited” to see the language of genius law that requires cooperation with law enforcement, as his company is already working closely with US authorities. He said Tether is considering opening the US arm and is offering “domestic stubcoins” tailored to financial institutions.
Aldoino will frequently return to the US. He called Washington “very clean,” but he had reserved for the food. And he said he enjoyed the prospect of challenging American crypto companies on his lawn.
“How fun,” Aldoino said.
