Masayoshi Son and "Cathie Wood" are both considering investing, as the valuation of "stablecoin giant" Tether approaches that of OpenAI.

Author: Li Xiaoyin, Wall Street Insights

Reprint: White55, Mars Finance

The world's largest stablecoin issuer Tether is attracting the attention of top investors, with its latest round of potential financing likely to push the company's valuation to an astonishing $500 billion.

According to Bloomberg, SoftBank Group and Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management are considering investing in Tether, with this round of financing aiming to sell about 3% of the company's shares, potentially raising a total investment amount of up to $20 billion.

If the financing is successful, Tether's valuation will match that of AI leader OpenAI, reaching the level of 500 billion dollars, placing it among the most valuable private companies in the world.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed this week that the company is exploring potential financing from "a small number of well-known key investors," but he declined to disclose the specific names of the investors or the amount of financing.

Profit prospects under pressure, Tether is diversifying its layout.

Investors' strong interest in Tether stems from its absolute dominance in the stablecoin market. Its issued USDT has a market capitalization of approximately $173.6 billion, consistently ranking first globally.

In recent years, stablecoins have evolved from mere cryptocurrency trading tools into a strategic financial asset. Tether has made massive profits by issuing the USDT stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and investing the fiat reserves deposited by users into income-generating assets.

Since the Federal Reserve began its aggressive interest rate hike cycle in 2022, short-term U.S. Treasury yields have soared, providing a strong tailwind for Tether's interest income. Financial reports show that in the second quarter of 2025, Tether's net profit reached 4.9 billion dollars, a year-on-year increase of 277%. This profitability makes it one of the most profitable companies in the crypto industry and even globally.

However, great success also comes with potential risks. Although interest rates are still at historically high levels, the yield on three-month U.S. Treasury bills has fallen from its peak in 2023 and 2024. For companies like Tether that heavily rely on interest income from short-term government bonds, this may be a signal to reduce dependence on a single source of income and seek new profit growth points.

In response to the potential changes in the interest rate environment, Tether has already begun to diversify. According to comments from Paolo Ardoino, the company plans to expand its business lines into new areas such as commodities, energy, and media.

At the end of 2023, the company announced its transition to the infrastructure and energy production sectors. In 2024, Tether completed its first cryptocurrency venture investment, committing to provide funding support to Arcanum Capital.