Tether valuation hits $515 billion

Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) CEO Paolo Ardoino responded to an analyst’s $515 billion valuation of the stablecoin issuer, calling it “a beautiful number” but suggesting it might be “a bit bearish.”

Ardoino noted that the valuation does not fully account for Tether’s holdings in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and gold, which could increase its worth.

The valuation estimate came from fintech analyst Jon Ma, who used a financial model based on Circle’s recent market performance.

Circle, a rival stablecoin issuer, went public on June 5 and saw its stock surge over 200% within 48 hours, reaching a market capitalisation of just over $30 billion.

Ma projected Tether’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) at $7.4 billion for 2025.

Using Circle’s EBITDA multiple of 69.3, Ma estimated Tether’s valuation at $515 billion, which would rank it as the 19th largest company globally.

At this level, Tether would surpass companies like Coca-Cola, Costco, and Oracle, and approach the market caps of Netflix and Mastercard.

Despite the optimistic valuation, Ardoino dismissed the idea of Tether going public, responding to a question about the benefits of an IPO.

“What benefits are there for Tether going public? Seems like Tether is thriving just fine privately,” he said.

Some critics questioned the valuation, highlighting concerns about transparency in Tether’s operations.

“When that kind of opacity becomes the backbone of crypto liquidity, you’re not building a system, you’re running on borrowed belief,” one critic said.

Supporters argued that Tether holds more credibility than Circle, especially in defending user interests and bitcoin holdings.

“Circle investors think the companies are comparable but they are not. Circle barely owns BTC and does not mine, as Paulo mentions. Also, Tether has much more credibility in standing up for its customers against governments than Circle,” an X user commented.

At the time of reporting, the Tether (USDT) price was $1.00.