Tether hits 500 million users as stablecoin supply nears $182 billion

Tether, the world's largest issuer of USD-pegged stablecoins, said its user base has hit 500 million for the first time.

"USDT reached officially 500 million users," CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a post to X. "Likely the biggest financial inclusion achievement in history."

Total supply for Tether's USDT stablecoin is at nearly $182 billion, according to The Block Data Dashboard. The second-largest issuer is Circle with about $75 billion of USDC in circulation.

"Programmable money is the ultimate social network," Ardoino said Tuesday. "A peer-to-peer construct that transports both information and value."

Last month, Bloomberg reported that El Salvador-based Tether is in talks with investors to raise as much as $20 billion at around a $500 billion valuation, which would make the stablecoin issuer one of the most valuable private companies in the world, alongside high-profile tech companies like OpenAI and SpaceX.

Cantor Fitzgerald, said to be a Tether shareholder, is advising the potential deal, the report said.

By the end of the year, Tether aims to launch USAT, a dollar-backed stablecoin designed for U.S. users. A new regulatory framework in the U.S. has served to motivate both crypto firms and traditional financial institutions to take more interest in stablecoins for the U.S. market.