Tether Moves Headquarters to El Salvador

By Federico Maccioni

DUBAI (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency firm Tether plans to move its headquarters to El Salvador, as the founders behind the world’s biggest stablecoin look to capitalize on the Central American country’s bid to become a hub for crypto trading.

Tether has emerged as a dominant force in the booming market for stablecoins, which are designed to maintain a constant value by being pegged to traditional currencies and offer users a way to move money between cryptocurrencies without being exposed to price swings.

CEO Paolo Ardoino told Reuters that Tether would relocate to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license there. He stated that he and other management, as well as co-founders, were moving to live in El Salvador. The company was previously incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

> “This move to El Salvador will be the first time we’re going to have also a physical headquarters,” Ardoino said, adding, however, that the firm does not plan to relocate all of its more than 100 staff, with work remaining predominantly remote.

The booming market for stablecoins has raised concerns among regulators that growing stablecoin reserves could expose the broader financial system to larger risks, acting as a bridge between the crypto universe and mainstream financial markets.

Tether has faced questions regarding its reserves and does not fully disclose where they are held or in what form. The firm claims that the majority of its stablecoin is backed by traditional currency reserves held with Wall Street brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, whose CEO is Trump’s nominee for the next U.S. commerce secretary.

> “So, we have some liquidity in other banks, but the vast, vast majority of the TBills are in Cantor,” Ardoino said.

Boosting Monitoring of Tokens

The company announced last year that it was increasing the monitoring of how its tokens are used to combat illicit finance.

When asked whether Tether had considered alternative locations for its HQ, Ardoino said it lacked a license to operate in the European Union and had ruled out the United States for now. He added that it was “quite premature” to predict what changes Trump as president might implement.

The election of Trump as the next U.S. president sparked a rally to record highs for cryptocurrency prices. Trump has promised to create a friendlier regulatory environment for crypto and plans to create a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve.

El Salvador is actively seeking to become a hub for digital currency trading, having made Bitcoin legal tender alongside the dollar three years ago, under President Nayib Bukele.

Tether’s dollar-pegged token, USDT, accounts for roughly two-thirds of the $212-billion worth of stablecoins in circulation, according to CoinGecko data. The overall market has grown around 45% over the last year, the data shows.