Reveals ‘US-Regulated’ USAT Stablecoin, With Its Own CEO
Stablecoin giant Tether furthered its push into the United States on Friday, announcing a previously teased U.S.-specific stablecoin designed to comply with new laws.
The token project, dubbed USAT, will be led by Bo Hines, former executive director of the White House’s digital assets working group. Hines will serve as USAT’s CEO from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he and his family are based. Hines left the Trump administration last month, and immediately signed on as Tether’s strategic advisor for U.S. policy.
The token will be issued by Anchorage Digital and is expected to launch by the end of this year. USAT will be headquartered in Charlotte, a Tether spokesperson confirmed to Decrypt.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino previously told Decrypt at the White House in July that the company intended to create a U.S.-specific stablecoin, which will cater to different use cases than USDT, the company’s flagship stablecoin.
“We have built the most popular distribution channel for the United States, but also for the United States to reach the world,” Ardoino said Friday. “With USAT and USDT together… we can [bring financial services] to the rest of the world and also the underserved communities in the United States.”
For years, Tether has avoided a major U.S. presence. Its $170 billion stablecoin USDT token has not yet had its reserves audited by a Big Four firm, and the token has also faced criticism in the past for its use in criminal activity. Tether, handily the largest stablecoin issuer in the world, is currently headquartered in El Salvador.
Tether Appoints Trump Administration Vet Bo Hines as Strategic Advisor
In the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election last year, though, the company has aggressively pushed to establish itself stateside and openly compete with rival firms pitching themselves as more regulatory-compliant Tether alternatives.
The company is intimately connected with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a major Tether booster. Lutnick’s Wall Street firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, says it custodies billions of dollars worth of U.S. Treasuries backing USDT.