Tether CEO snubs IPO, says $515B valuation is ’a bit bearish’

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino says the stablecoin issuer has no intention of going public, just days after rival Circle made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

“No need to go public,” Ardoino said on June 7, just two days after Circle, which is behind the stablecoin USDC , entered the public market on June 5. Circle’s shares climbed 167% on its first trading session on the NYSE.

$515 billion is a “beautiful number,” but not high enough

Ardoino addressed valuation speculation raised by Artmesis CEO Jon Ma, who claimed that if Tether, which is behind the stablecoin USDT , were to go public, it would rank as the 19th largest company globally with a valuation of $515 billion, larger than multinational giants like Costco and Coca-Cola.

While Ardoino called the $515 billion valuation a “beautiful number,” he said it might actually be too low. “Maybe a bit bearish considering our current (and increasing) Bitcoin + gold treasury, yet I’m very humbled,” Ardoino said.

Prominent Bitcoin advocates Anthony Pompliano and Jack Mallers both suggested that the company could one day reach a $1 trillion valuation.

Ardoino added he is “truly excited for the next phase of growth of our company.” .

Tether’s USDT ranks as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, valued at $154.83 billion at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

Meanwhile, on April 24, it was announced that Tether would become the majority owner of Twenty One Capital, a new Bitcoin treasury company founded by Strike’s Jack Mallers. 

Despite its recent launch, Twenty One has already become the world’s third-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, behind only Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and mining firm MARA Holdings.

On June 3, Cointelegraph reported that Tether moved a combined 37,229.69 Bitcoin, worth about $3.9 billion, to addresses linked to the new Bitcoin-native financial platform.