Why You Still Can’t Buy Tether Stock — Even at $500B

Explore opportunities to invest in Tether stock as its valuation surpasses $500 billion.
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Notable Tether News

10/24/2025: Tether Expects Profit to Increase to $15 Billion in 2025
10/02/2025: The Untold Stories of Secret Shareholders
09/23/2025: Tether Seeks Funding at $500 Billion Valuation
03/21/2025: Tether in talks with ‘Big Four’ firm about reserve audit
Older news…

About Tether

Tether Limited is a blockchain-based fintech company that issues USDT, the world’s largest and most transacted stablecoin. Its parent company is iFinex Inc., which also Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange.

The company was founded in July 2014 as Realcoin by Brock Pierce (entrepreneur and former child actor), Reeve Collins (former CEO), and Craig Sellars (former CTO and Mastercoin Foundation contributor).

The first USDT tokens launched on the Omni Layer (Bitcoin protocol) in October 2014. The rebrand to Tether was announced on November 20, 2014, to explicitly emphasize “tethering” tokens to fiat currencies like USD.

USDT is a dollar-pegged token used globally for trading, payments, and on-chain liquidity. Tether also issues other fiat and commodity-linked tokens, including EURT, MXNT, and XAUT.

Now headquartered in El Salvador (previously the British Virgin Islands), the company operates in the country’s crypto-friendly regulatory environment. Tether dominates the stablecoin market, competing primarily with Circle’s USDC and other emerging asset-backed issuers.

Due to its widespread use, Tether has a deep influence across exchanges, DeFi, and emerging-market digital finance. With growing demand for on-chain dollars and global settlement, Tether will likely remain a central player in digital currency infrastructure as the industry matures and adoption continues.

Ownership

The details behind Tether’s ownership structure are not available to the public. However, investigative work has uncovered some of the primary equity holders. 

Tether owners may also include the original founders, employees, and individuals and entities connected with iFinex.

Current and possibly former Investors include Paolo Ardoino, Giancarlo Devasini, Jan Ludovicus van der Velde, Stuart Hoegner, Zhao Dong, Philip Potter, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Christopher Harborne.

Reports emerged in Q4 2025 that Tether is seeking an investment round valuing the company at $500 billion. A funding round at this scale would likely include large institutional investors, venture capitalists, and wealthy individuals with connections to iFinex leadership. 

Valuation

The most recent Tether valuation is $500 billion based on Q4 2025 reports of a developing private funding round.

IPO Potential

At this stage, a Tether IPO date is unlikely due to its non-transparent and international ownership structure. 

Tether operates through a web of offshore entities tied to iFinex, the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether Limited. 

This has created a complex ownership and governance structure that would face heavy scrutiny in U.S. public markets.

Untangling these relationships and meeting the disclosure, auditing, and regulatory demands required for a U.S. IPO would require a level of transparency Tether has historically avoided.

Therefore, it’s premature to talk about a potential IPO — but not impossible.

How to Invest in Tether Stock

Tether stock is not investable as of Q4 2025. Its complex international structure and private and non-transparent nature make it challenging to track down existing investors, let alone becoming an investor yourself. 

With a small employee base and unknown ownership status for employees, secondary availability is unlikely. 

That said, interested investors can monitor this web page for updates that may improve availability in the future. 

Monitor Pre-IPO Investing Platforms for Availability

As Tether raises a new funding round at a $500+ billion valuation toward the end of 2025, secondary shares may eventually become available to accredited retail investors. 

At this stage, it is unlikely due to its complex structure and narrow investor base. 

Pre-IPO investment platforms may eventually offer Tether stock acquired from employees or early investors who seek to liquidate some of their shares before a potential Tether IPO.

However, it is more likely the company would provide liquidity internally or from trusted existing shareholders. 

Monitor pre-IPO investing platforms such as Hiive, Equitybee, Augment, Forge Global, and EquityZen for share availability. 

If shares become available, expect to pay at least a $10,000 investment minimum. 

Pre-IPO investment platform memberships are free, but deal-specific minimum investment amounts may apply and vary.

Non-accredited investors can invest in pre-IPO companies via venture capital funds targeted to retail investors. 

Fundrise Venture (review) is a premium option for non-accredited investors to invest in leading AI, defense, and fintech startups. However, Tether is not currently in the portfolio. 

Please note: This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on AccessIPOs.com. All opinions are my own.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Tether Publicly Traded?

No. Tether is privately held by a tight group of private and reclusive investors. 

What is the Tether Stock Price?

Since Tether is not publicly traded on a stock exchange, there is no public Tether stock price yet. Pre-IPO marketplace data may eventually offer some guidance on the current price.

But at the time of writing, there is limited public data from which to draw.

What is the Tether Stock Symbol?

We’ll learn what the Tether stock symbol will be if Tether officially files for an IPO via Form S-1 with the SEC and releases it to the public.

This event is unlikely at this point and many years away if it ever happens.  

We can speculate about what the Tether ticker will be. Here are a few suggestions that are available in the U.S.:

• TTHR
• USDT
• PEGD
• IFNX
• STBL

Where is the Tether IPO S-1 Filing?

The Tether S-1 filing has not been released to the public, and there is no indication of a confidential filing.

The document will become available if the company submits filings to the SEC and the regulatory commission approves and releases it to the public. 

We’ll post a copy of the S-1 filing on this page when it becomes available.  

You can monitor the most recent S-1 IPO filings on this website.

Tether News Archive

03/12/2025: Tether Emerges From Shadows During U.S. Tour
12/20/2024: Tether Invests in Rumble
03/05/2025: Tether exceeds $100 bln tokens in circulation
10/15/2021: Tether, Bitfinex to pay $42.5 mln to settle U.S. CFTC charges

Conclusion

Tether’s leadership position in the stablecoin space highlights how a privately held, non-transparent company can exert outsized influence in global finance without public scrutiny.

Its steady growth in token circulation and ambitious valuation targets indicates strong market demand for stablecoins in an improving regulatory environment.

Yet this expansion has occurred alongside opaque ownership and dubious governance.

The interplay between regulatory scrutiny and private fundraising suggests that Tether must navigate legal and compliance hurdles even as it scales.

Engaging with audit firms and overt efforts by CEO Paolo Ardoino to communicate with markets signal a cautious approach to legitimacy, yet with urgency, as dozens of fintech and legacy banks seek adoption and market share.

Comparisons with competitors like Circle’s USDC reveal that market dominance does not necessarily translate to public investability.

Overall, Tether demonstrates that influence in digital finance can be achieved through strategic positioning and product utility, even when traditional investment channels remain closed.

Interested investors may never get a chance to invest in Tether stock unless we learn more about the company’s future ambitions, pointing to an eventual (but still unlikely) IPO.