Tether targets December for launch of U.S.-regulated stablecoin

• Key insights: Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is preparing to launch USAT, its U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin, by the end of the year. 
• What's at stake: The launch follows the passage of the GENIUS Act, which provided a framework for the U.S. stablecoin industry. 
• Future look: Bo Hines, the former head of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, was named CEO of USAT. The company's headquarters will be in Charlotte. 

NEW YORK — Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer by volume, is preparing to launch its U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin by the end of the year, Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said at a company event unveiling the coin in New York City Friday. 

Tether is targeting a December launch for the stablecoin, which it is calling USA Tether, or USAT. Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated crypto bank, will serve as the GENIUS Act-compliant issuer of the stablecoin. Cantor Fitzgerald will provide custodial services. Both companies will have a stake in Tether's U.S. entity, but Ardoino declined to comment on specifics of the arrangement. 

"We are inviting financial institutions to work with us to leverage our ability to bring their services to the rest of the world and also the underserved communities in the United States, to create that backbone that in this moment today, is very fragmented," Ardoino said. 

The company also named Bo Hines, the former head of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, as the CEO of USAT, and said its headquarters would be in Charlotte. 

Tether is hoping that its proximity to some of the country's largest banks will help it accelerate its talks with financial institutions as they look to stand up their own stablecoins. 

"Charlotte's the mini finance capital of the United States, as I like to say. We have Bank of America down there, Truist and others," Hines said. "There's a race for infrastructure now in the U.S. system. Banks want to engage in this space and a lot of them have made very bold statements that they're going to issue their own stablecoins." 

Tether is currently in talks with a number of other U.S. financial institutions, Hines said, but declined to name specifics. 

USAT is designed to supplement Tether's other dollar-backed stablecoin, USDT, rather than compete with it, Ardoino said. 

"USDT will be the distribution channel for USAT abroad. USDT is very well established [with] 500 million users across the world, so it's actually a way for USAT to be able to reach a broader audience," Ardoino said. 

"The biggest country for remittances – where remittances start from – is the United States," he said. "So we see this in a symbiotic way, where USAT is the product that is purchased domestically and then if there is a need to spread it abroad and send it to emerging markets, we'll basically use the pipes of USDT to have that coverage." 

The announcement comes only a few months after competitor Circle Internet Services issued its blockbuster IPO and the GENIUS Act was signed by President Donald Trump, which provided a framework that opened the doors for financial institutions to begin wading into the space. 

The launch of its own U.S.-regulated stablecoin marks a key milestone in legitimizing Tether's business in the U.S. The company, which was launched in 2014 and recently moved its headquarters to El Salvador, is no stranger to controversy. In 2021, it was part of a criminal probe by the Justice Department looking into potential bank fraud. The company was also fined $41 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for lying about its stablecoin reserves.