This week, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino engaged in an in-depth dialogue with U.S. entrepreneur and Professional Capital Management founder and CEO Anthony Pompliano. Their discussion covered Tether’s expansion strategy for the U.S. market, the company’s plan to launch a U.S.-domiciled stablecoin, and explored areas such as AI, gold, and brain-computer interfaces. Ardoino also sounded the alarm on the risks associated with over-leveraged Bitcoin treasury companies.

Here are the key takeaways:

What Are Tether’s Plans for the U.S.?

Paolo Ardoino: The recently enacted “Genius Act” is driving Tether to explore opportunities in the U.S. market and has created a level playing field for all financial institutions. Tether now holds over $127 billion in U.S. Treasuries—recently surpassing South Korea to become the 18th largest holder. By year-end, we could even surpass another country. While this is remarkable for a private company compared to sovereign nations, it’s the reality. We may be one of America’s strongest allies. Tether intends to launch a U.S.-domiciled stablecoin. When that happens, American banks and financial institutions will be able to partner with Tether, leveraging our global distribution network to reach new customers and create new revenue streams.

For context, financial infrastructure efficiency in Nigeria is between 10% and 20%, while in the U.S. it’s about 90%—virtually flawless. If Nigeria’s rails improve to 50%, the U.S. may only increase from 90% to 95%. Because the unbanked population in the U.S. is relatively small, Tether’s U.S.-focused product must offer unique features.

How Does USDT Differ from Tether’s U.S. Stablecoin?

Paolo Ardoino: USDT primarily serves emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, enabling users to bypass inefficient financial systems—essentially functioning as an international stablecoin. However, USDT isn’t always the best fit for the U.S. market.

The U.S. native stablecoin is purpose-built for the U.S. market, with features tailored to the mature American financial system, such as deep integration with banking partners and enhanced payment efficiency.

In the future, hundreds of stablecoins may emerge in the U.S. The experience of moving seamlessly between stablecoins will become a decisive factor, and user experience and distribution capabilities are precisely where Tether excels.

Where Can Stablecoin Infrastructure and Blockchain Improve or Innovate?

Paolo Ardoino: User experience is the biggest limiting factor. You need a wallet, and it must have enough gas to send stablecoins. Even with things like account abstraction, you can’t yet pay gas with a stable-value asset—transactions still require volatile assets like ETH. This is a crucial area for improvement.

Commodity traders are heavily adopting stablecoins, recognizing their ability to enhance portfolio efficiency and profitability. The Genius Act is expected to accelerate institutional adoption. Blockchains dedicated to stablecoin and settlement use cases—especially for interbank and business-to-business settlements—are poised for substantial advantage.

Tether + AI

Paolo Ardoino: QVAC is one of the projects I’m most passionate about. The goal is to build a native AI inference and fine-tuning platform that works anywhere—from embedded devices to smartphones, laptops, and servers. These devices might include brain-computer interfaces, cars, drones, robots, and even outposts in space or on other planets.

AI must be lean, precise, modular, and highly localized. Over the next 20, 30, or even 100 or 10,000 years, AI will be woven into the very fabric of the universe. In five years, mobile GPUs may be ten times more powerful than today. Our vision is to create the world’s first truly decentralized, unstoppable AI platform.

We’re seeking to emulate brain function, aiming to build boundless, hyper-efficient data centers. QVAC will allow anyone to create efficient, local small models. Using peer-to-peer technology, all these models can connect without any central server—so you can run queries across them and get optimal answers.

Tether will eventually develop its own foundational models, but our top priority is building a platform that supports any model, local or remote. Local inference is a major focus, and we’re also researching peer-to-peer federated inference.

What’s Your View on Gold and Bitcoin?

Paolo Ardoino: I’ve said many times—nothing beats Bitcoin. It’s perfect. Some Bitcoin holders mistakenly view gold as a competitor, but that’s not accurate. If an investor thinks Bitcoin is peaking and wants to exit temporarily, it makes more sense to switch to gold than to the U.S. dollar, because gold better preserves purchasing power (whereas the dollar can be eroded by inflation). If the world faces a financial reset (like fiat currency collapse) within the next five years, gold’s $20 trillion market cap—far above Bitcoin’s—could make it the preferred transitional asset for traditional markets, while Bitcoin still needs time to scale up.

What Do You Think About Bitcoin Treasury Firms?

Paolo Ardoino recognizes the important market role of Bitcoin treasury companies, but he’s also concerned about some aggressive strategies—especially excessive leverage. The industry will ultimately go through shakeouts and consolidation.

Tether + Brain-Computer Interfaces

Paolo Ardoino: In late April 2024, Tether invested $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech. Blackrock Neurotech boasts world-leading brain-computer interface technology, with next-generation chips that deliver 100-fold performance improvements. The company is based in Utah and operates with a lean team.

Blackrock Neurotech is dedicated to ensuring brain-computer interface technology is beneficial to humanity and remains under human control, preventing machines from supplanting us.

How Do You View the Current Macro Economy?

Paolo Ardoino: The United States is in an exceptionally strong position, and I’m optimistic about the global momentum behind dollar-based stablecoins. U.S. tariff policies have served national interests—despite some negative spillover for other countries, they provide a clear near-term boost to the U.S. economy. Europe was early to regulate digital assets, but hasn’t capitalized on the chance to increase the euro’s influence on the world stage. Currencies in developing countries will continue to weaken, making their economies more fragile. However, tools like USDT serve as a “Plan B,” helping local populations cushion the blow of volatility. Tether is not just investing in gold, but also in land, agriculture, AI, and brain-computer interface projects.

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