Revealed: 86% of Tether owned by four men in 2018

Documents from years gone by paint a vivid picture of the masterminds behind the largest stablecoin.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, 86% of Tether was controlled by just four men in 2018. 

• Giancarlo Devasini, a former plastic surgeon who later became the CFO of Bitfinex, was a co-founder of Tether. He owned 43% of Tether.
• Jean-Louis van Der Velde, CEO of Bitfinex and Tether, owned 15% of the company.
• Chief Counsel Stuart Hoegner, also of Bitfinex and Tether, held 15% as well.
• Christopher Harborne or Chakrit Sakunkrit, with dual British and Thai citizenship, held 13%.
• Brock Pierce, a former child actor, owned an undisclosed amount.

Little is known about Tether

The previously unknown owners were finally uncovered through probes by the New York Attorney General and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2021.

Paolo Aordino, the CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, slammed the WSJ article in a tweet, calling it a “clown article” and saying that Tether represents “freedom and inclusion.”

Moreover, the company behind Tether is mysterious, just like many other players in the crypto world. They keep information about themselves a secret, including who owns it, how they manage assets, and so on. 

When asked about their lending plans, the company refused to say who was borrowing or what they were using as security. This kind of secrecy, combined with a lack of expertise and weak regulation, makes investing in crypto companies like Tether risky.

Tether is worth billions!

Nonetheless, Tether has become a profitable investment because of increasing interest rates. With a massive $68 billion asset portfolio, Tether earns around $3 billion every year just by paying out a 4.5% interest rate. Further, this is similar to what short-term treasuries offer.

However, unlike Treasuries, Tether coins do not offer any interest.

Tether is currently worth $1.00 USD, down by 0.01% in the last 24 hours (Courtesy of CoinMarketCap on Feb 03, 2023).