Compiled by TechFlow

Guest : Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO & Bitfinex CTO

Moderator : Kevin Follonier

Podcast source : When Shift Happens

Original title : USDT Founder: Bitcoin, Gold, Stablecoin, & Tether, the Most Profitable Company in the World | EP 143

Air Date : October 16, 2025

Summary of key points

Paolo Ardoino , Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tether and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bitfinex, shares how he built one of the most profitable companies in the world—generating approximately $100 million in profit per employee.

Tether launched USDT, the world's most widely used stablecoin, providing financial support to approximately 3 billion unbanked people worldwide, especially in countries facing extreme inflation and financial crises.

Against the backdrop of increasing global economic instability, Paolo founded a company dedicated to bringing stability through “democratized finance” and has achieved remarkable success. Last year, Tether’s revenue reached $13.7 billion.

Summary of highlights

• I usually sleep at least 5 hours a night. But the problem is that my sleep is fragmented because I always have notifications turned on and every hour I wake up to check notifications and then go back to sleep.

• My hometown is a small village with only 600 people, so entertainment options are limited. I started learning programming when I was 8 years old, and this passion has continued throughout my college years and continues to this day.

• I personally have very few hobbies. In fact, my only hobby is thinking about how to fulfill my mission and bring stability to the world every day.

• USDT exists to provide financial stability to those in emerging markets facing extreme economic instability.

• Tether is not just a stablecoin company, it is a stable company. This is precisely Tether’s mission and the true meaning of a “stable company”—a company whose ultimate goal is social stability.

• What we need to do is democratize access to finance and technology, allowing more people to participate directly through peer-to-peer technology and decentralized finance.

• Tether is a "once-in-a-century company. Unlike other companies that try to build closed ecosystems, Tether's platform is open to the whole world. This is a completely different business model and the key to our success.

• Everyone should have their own mission, no matter how big or small, as long as you are happy.

• People often use art to express their emotions and thoughts, but I realized that my way of expression is through programming. I can create my own world and invite people into my world through programming.

• Stablecoins are effectively the ultimate social network.

• We hope to demonstrate to the world through this $20 billion round that Tether's mission goes far beyond this, and our goal is to achieve 100x growth. Tether has the capital, philosophy, and technological innovation to do whatever it wants.

• If you create a product that solves a real problem, it has the potential to truly change the world.

• Football is a global sport that reaches people from all walks of life, rich and poor. Therefore, investing in football clubs is a simple way to reach a global audience. We hold a 10% stake in Serie A club Juventus.

The motivation to keep working hard

Kevin Follonier: One thing many of my guests have in common is that they've experienced something in their lives that created a sense of imbalance. Does Tether's mission today connect to something you felt was missing when you were younger?

Paolo Ardoino:

I consider myself very lucky. Although my family wasn't wealthy, I learned the most important lesson from them: hard work. I remember my grandparents, now deceased, who once ran a small farm in Italy. They specialized in producing high-quality olive oil and tomatoes, with meticulous attention to detail. Whether it was tomatoes, sage, rosemary, or asparagus, their passion for excellence was a lifelong commitment.

My grandfather rose at five in the morning, took a nap at one in the afternoon, and then returned to work in the evening. This simple yet fulfilling life kept him happy. Although he only had an elementary school education, he excelled in mathematics. My parents are also role models of hard work. My mother is a kindergarten teacher, and my father is a regular employee who worked for Italy's state energy company before retiring in Israel. I'm fortunate to still be alive. After work, they would take us to exercise and then return to help on the farm. From morning till night, our lives consisted of waking up, working hard, and completing tasks. But we did it all with passion. I never heard them complain because, for them, it was their mission.

Everyone should have a mission, no matter how big or small, as long as they are happy. So when someone says to me, "Oh, you work so hard," I say, no, I see hard work as much more than that, and I definitely don't just work hard.

I also have a very specific sleep schedule, I usually sleep at least 5 hours a night. But the problem is that my sleep is fragmented because I always have notifications turned on, and every hour I wake up to check notifications and then go back to sleep.

Kevin Follonier: You've been doing this for 11 years, sleeping five hours a night and waking up every hour? Do you catch up on sleep during the day?

Paolo Ardoino:

No. If I take a nap during the day, I'll feel groggy. That's why I never take a nap.

Started programming at age 8

Kevin Follonier: You started programming at age 8? How did that come about?

Paolo Ardoino:

My father worked for Italy's national energy company, Energia. In the early 1990s, Italian public enterprises began introducing computers to improve efficiency and modernize. Italy's bureaucracy is notoriously complex, and many tasks are time-consuming and tedious. Therefore, the introduction of computers was crucial for improving efficiency. My father was enthusiastic about these new technologies. I remember when I was seven years old, he brought home a computer and told me it was incredibly expensive, costing him two months' salary. Although I didn't understand the concept of two months' salary at the time, he told me it was incredibly expensive and urged me to use it with care and never damage it.

As an only child, I was naturally curious about computers. We had floppy disks for games, but due to financial constraints, we couldn't afford many. Furthermore, in Italy in 1991, gaming resources were hard to come by. My hometown was a small village of only 600 people, so entertainment options were limited. Over time, I grew tired of the existing games, and the idea of making my own came to me. I asked my father if he could buy me a book on how to program and make games. He replied, "Okay, Paolo, I can, but it'll cost 60,000 lire."

At that time, Italy still used the lira as its currency. He asked me, "Are you sure you want to buy this book? It's expensive." I said, "I want to learn." So he took the book home, and I started learning programming, a passion that continued throughout my university years and even today.

Infinite possibilities of programming

Kevin Follonier: You've mentioned that programming is a unique form of expression, unlike any other art form, that it unleashes the human imagination, allowing us to create whole new worlds of possibilities. Could you elaborate on your perspective?

Paolo Ardoino:

Of course. Honestly, I'm not very good at traditional art forms. While I used to be a decent guitar player, I haven't played in years. In other artistic fields, I'm completely untalented. For example, in art classes at school, whether it was technical design or other hands-on projects, my work was always disorganized and untidy. I remember drawing with excessive arm movements, swishing the pencil across the canvas haphazardly, and the end result was always unsatisfactory. I couldn't color, let alone sing. It's safe to say I couldn't even perform the most basic artistic expression.

But people often use art to express their emotions and thoughts, and I realized that my way of expression was through programming. I could create my own world and invite people into it through programming.

What are Stablecoins & Why are Stablecoins Important?

Kevin Follonier: You're using programming to create stablecoins. What are stablecoins? If you were to explain them to a mother, how would you describe them?

Paolo Ardoino:

Simply put, a stablecoin is a digital currency, much like the digital balance you see in your bank account. However, the difference is that stablecoins use blockchain technology for transfers, rather than relying on a bank's system. Think of it as a "digital dollar" that can circulate freely around the world like cash.

Blockchain is a decentralized technology, similar to a large, borderless database whose servers are distributed around the world, rather than centralized in a single bank or institution. We use the best form of database—a decentralized database—to move dollars.

Kevin Follonier: Why are stablecoins so important in our world?

Paolo Ardoino:

The significance of stablecoins lies in their potential to provide a solution for the billions of people worldwide who lack access to financial services. These people often live in countries with high inflation. For example, inflation rates in Europe range from 30% to 34%, in Turkey reaches 50%, in Nigeria even higher, and in Argentina, sometimes exceeding 200%. In these countries, high inflation causes local currencies to depreciate rapidly, severely impacting people's purchasing power. Now, in 2025, everyone is interested in stablecoins.

In developed countries like the United States and Europe, the financial system is highly efficient. With a bank account, credit card, and payment tools like Cash App or PayPal, daily money transfers are virtually frictionless. However, in developing countries, the financial system may be only 5% efficient, and many people cannot even open a bank account. Stablecoins, leveraging blockchain technology, could boost financial efficiency in these regions to 60% or 70%. For people living in remote villages in Africa, this transformation is profound, enabling them to participate in the global economy and expanding their opportunities.

The internet started to enable this kind of connectivity, and it was actually a way to invite people into a global context, but without financial services, the internet is meaningless. I think stablecoins are actually the ultimate social network in that sense, because the currency of a social network is the ultimate social network in my opinion, because it involves interpersonal interaction, peer-to-peer interaction, and it inherently contains value and the information you want to transfer.

Tether's Mission & Becoming a Stable Company

Kevin Follonier: So what is your mission?

Paolo Ardoino:

My mission is to bring stability to the world. In a world spiraling toward instability and chaos, I believe stability is particularly crucial. It may sound strange, but Tether's success is actually closely linked to the exacerbation of many global problems. If the financial system were fair, resources were accessible, and functioning properly, USDT would not be necessary. USDT exists precisely to provide financial stability to those in emerging markets facing extreme economic instability.

As a developer, I believe we are building Tether into a leader in technology, not just in finance, but also in other sectors like telecommunications, social media, and energy. Our goal is to make these sectors more open and accessible through decentralized technology, just as we have done for the US dollar and finance. This is Tether's core mission. It's worth noting that the majority of our profits are not distributed to shareholders. Approximately 95% of our profits remain within the company, invested in new initiatives and new ideas to support our mission.

I personally have very few hobbies. In fact, my only hobby is thinking about how to achieve this mission every day. I'm obsessed with this problem, and I'm the kind of person who gets so caught up in a field that it basically takes over my entire life.

Kevin Follonier: You mentioned in Docker Times that as global instability grows, Tether will continue to invest some of its profits in safe assets like Bitcoin, gold, and land. So, what is a stablecoin?

Paolo Ardoino:

I often wonder what a truly "stablecoin company" is. A reporter once asked me how I could define Tether in a few words. He tried to say that Tether is a stablecoin company. My response was that Tether is not just a stablecoin company, but a stablecoin company.

In my view, access to technology and finance is key to social stability. If people can easily access technology and financial services, they will have less incentive to create chaos and instability. Often, social unrest stems from people's dissatisfaction, which often stems from extremely difficult living conditions.

Of course, there are other causes of social instability, but overall, I believe global stability is closely linked to the significant disparities between countries and regions. Over the past 20 to 30 years, while technology has attempted to narrow these gaps, it has actually exacerbated inequality. The same phenomenon is also true in the financial sector—roughly half of the world's population lacks reliable access to financial services, or even the opportunity to open a bank account. This isn't because they are untrustworthy, but rather because their poverty makes them unattractive to banks. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in some African countries or Central America, severely impacting stability in these regions because the distribution of technological and financial resources is skewed towards a small, wealthy minority.

What we need is to democratize access to finance and technology, empowering more people to participate directly through peer-to-peer technology and decentralized finance . I believe that when people's lives, families, communities, and countries are more stable, they have less incentive to cause chaos. This is exactly what Tether's mission is, and it's the true meaning of a "stablecoin"—a company whose ultimate goal is social stability. We've proven that such a company can be built. And, reassuringly, the more we work towards this goal, the more profitable it becomes.

This is why I define Tether as a "once-in-a-century company." This isn't an exaggeration, but rather because Tether's uniqueness lies in the fact that the more it promotes open source, decentralization, and openness, the broader its user base becomes. These users use the tools Tether provides to achieve financial freedom and free speech, and the more widespread this process becomes, the more value the company's data creates . Unlike other companies that attempt to build closed ecosystems, Tether's platform is open to the entire world. This is a fundamentally different business model and the key to our success.

Tether: The world's most profitable company per employee

Kevin Follonier: You've mentioned that Tether is one of the best companies in the world, boasting a 99% profit margin. How did you build a company that generates an average of $100 million in profit per employee per year? Have you given this much thought?

Paolo Ardoino:

Frankly, I don't dwell on this kind of data. We're always focused on optimizing efficiency. Whenever we do something, I ask myself: Why do we do it this way? Is there a better way? How can we further improve efficiency? Two years ago, Tether's team was only 40 people, but as our business has expanded, our current headcount has grown to between 250 and 300, including a significant number of developers as we expand into new areas like artificial intelligence. However, the team responsible for core stablecoin management remains around 100 people.

Of course, the current high interest rate environment has significantly benefited our profitability. Global interest rates will remain low until 2022, and such fluctuations are difficult to predict. Furthermore, the impact of the pandemic was also unexpected. These factors combined have contributed to our profit growth. However, we believe that by continuously expanding into new business areas, we can help maintain high profitability in the long term. Optimizing efficiency and seizing opportunities are the keys to our success.

Why raise $20 billion?

Kevin Follonier: You recently announced that you're considering raising $20 billion at a $500 billion valuation. If that money were available tomorrow, how would you plan to use it?

Paolo Ardoino:

Last year, we achieved $13.7 billion in profits, and we expect similar performance this year. But I want to emphasize that our purpose in raising capital isn't simply to make money; it's to deliver an important message. As the Joker said in Batman, "It's not about the money, it's about the message." Through this fundraising, we hope to demonstrate to the world that Tether's mission goes far beyond that. Our goal is to achieve 100x growth.

I once mentioned publicly that I'm a big fan of Peter Thiel and am currently reading his book, "Zero to One." However, this is no longer the era where startups can earn huge profits simply by growing their data. I prefer to say that our goal is to move from our current foundation to the "Zero to 100" stage. I've even referred to it as "0.25" because we're just getting started.

I say this because it’s not about how much money we make, it’s about the potential we think we need to capture to express the view we have in our hearts about this opportunity.

I define Tether as a once-in-a-century opportunity because I believe every company needs three things: philosophy, direction, and capital. First, you need a philosophy or belief about what kind of company you want to be; second, you need the ability to innovate, whether in technology or other areas; and third, you need capital. Most companies only have one or two of these three. You can be a large-scale innovator with the right philosophy, but without funding, you need to raise capital and seek out venture capital firms. However, venture capital firms are motivated by the desire to earn more than they invest in you, which can lead to a deviation from your original project, philosophy, and idea.

I think in this case, Tether has the capital, philosophy, and technological innovation to do whatever it wants. So, our message is that we have a lot to show, we want to grow dramatically, and our vision is amazing. We want partners to join our company and help us realize this unique and powerful vision, and we don't want to mess it up.

Why did Tether invest in @Plasma?

Kevin Follonier: Tether recently invested in a company called Plasma , whose founder, Paul, has been on our podcast before and helped us build this platform. So, why is Plasma so important that Tether decided to invest in them?

Paolo Ardoino:

I believe Tether's USDT is more than just a digital currency ; it's also a crucial component of blockchain technology . Stablecoins are essentially digital dollars built on blockchain technology. However, over the past few years, the direction of blockchain technology development has deviated somewhat. Many developers have focused on quickly launching hype-driven blockchain projects, such as memes like Dogecoin. While this approach may work in the short term, it doesn't truly drive long-term development of the industry. Nevertheless, such projects have made some teams profitable.

USDT’s success demonstrates the fact that if you create a product that solves a real problem, it has the potential to truly change the world.

Therefore, I believe that blockchains based on stablecoins or those focused on a specific purpose can make stablecoin transfers very cheap and very easy to use. For example, if you currently have a stablecoin on Ethereum, you still need to purchase ETH as gas to transfer USDT, and this user experience needs to be improved. I believe that despite the many years of development in the blockchain industry, the quality of the user experience is still very low because we are focusing on the wrong things and only focusing on our own "ecosystem," whose members are basically geeks and those who have the time to learn new things. However, for most ordinary people, this approach does not work. This is also why USDT is so popular globally, because USDT does not cater to those who want to speculate.

An interesting statistic shows that 67% of USDT transactions are solely for transferring funds, while only 10% to 20% of transactions for other stablecoins involve transferring other assets. This suggests that most users of USDT simply seek to obtain a stable value of $1. In contrast, 80% of other stablecoin users also transfer other assets, suggesting that they are more inclined to trade assets in the DeFi space. Therefore, I would rather USDT serve tens of millions of ordinary users in Africa than just satisfy the needs of 10,000 New York bankers.

Why does Tether own 10% of Juventus Football Club?

Kevin Follonier: Tether recently invested in Juventus Football Club and holds approximately a 10% stake. This makes one wonder why a company focused on stablecoins would choose to invest in a football club?

Paolo Ardoino:

First and foremost, Giancarlo and I are both devoted Juventus fans. Giancarlo is from the Piedmont region of Italy, where Juventus is the defining team. I grew up near Genoa, about 80 to 100 kilometers from Turin. Many people from my hometown go to Piedmont for vacation, so Juventus has a strong influence. My father was a Juventus fan, and I inherited his love, and Giancarlo is no exception.

Another reason is that we believe Italy's football industry needs modernization. In Italy, football clubs are often used as tools of power by entrepreneurs, who often own both media outlets and clubs and use these resources to engage in political activities. In contrast, we see investments in the football industry from countries like Saudi Arabia, and clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain, which already have hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. Football is a global sport that reaches people from all walks of life, rich and poor. Therefore, investing in football clubs is a simple way to reach a global audience.

We hope that Italian football clubs can build closer connections with their fans, promote positive values, and achieve profitability through modern management models. A club's success should be based on team quality, match results, and engagement with fans. However, this model has yet to be fully realized in many Italian clubs. Through our investment in Juventus, we hope to drive change in the Italian football industry and make Juventus more international and forward-thinking.