As Tether has grown exponentially over the years, the composition of what backs every token has also changed. In some quarters, this has been viewed positively, particularly by the fact that the company has moved away from commercial paper of unknown quality and into the US Treasury and repo markets.
However, Tether also has a variety of “other investments,” many of which are public on its Crunchbase profile.
celsius network
Tether’s first investment was in Celsius, a now-defunct crypto lending platform. The financial company run by Alex Mashinsky and his cronies declared bankruptcy after collapsing under the weight of their own bungled market manipulation and fraud.
Tether made an announcement in 2022 that “Tether’s portfolio includes an investment in Celsius,” but that investment was actually for shareholder equity, and that “this investment and Tether’s own preparedness… “There is no correlation between gold and stability,” he added.
Tether also disclosed its financing to Celsior in the announcement. Celsius had raised nearly $1 billion in funding before bankruptcy, and Tether was one of the few lead investors.
Exoldium
Exordium is a Web3 gaming company founded by Samson Mow, former CSO of Blockstream. Exordium’s investors also include Disrupt Ventures, an investor in Celsius Network. Their only IP is a video game called Infinite Fleet. This is a Star Citizen-like game that incorporates its own tokens. Even as a lead investor, Tether’s investment in the company is minimal, as the company has only raised $5.4 million.
bit refill
Bitrefill is an early website dedicated to selling gift cards and other cryptocurrency products. Investors include Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, and Fulgar Ventures. Similar to Exordium, Bitrefill has only raised $9.5 million from Tether reserves.
inside
NAKA is a financial services company that works almost exclusively with individuals and organizations involved in cryptocurrencies. NAKA’s CEO and co-founder Dejan Rořić is a Slovenian who has been involved in cryptocurrencies for many years, including raising $7.2 million in an ICO called Eligma in 2018.
Eligma had bold goals for merchant recruitment, AI-powered item discovery, and other absurd claims, but now it appears to simply be doing software development work. Meanwhile, NAKA has raised nearly $50 million, of which over $20 million came from Tether and Bitfinex.
volcanic energy
Volcano Energy, a Salvadoran geothermal energy company backed by the Bukele government, appears to have raised about $250 million from Tether, with just one investor: Tether. This is one of Tether’s larger investments, and it makes a lot of sense given Naib Boucle’s close ties to the Salvadoran government.
The company aims to exploit El Salvador’s volcanic hotspots to mine Bitcoin, and some miners went live last October, but there have been no real updates since then. Funnily enough, the CEO, CSO, and Chairman (known Bitcoin maximalist and former Russian TV star Max Kaiser) has no experience in the energy industry, but has the backing of numerous international conglomerates, including China Power. That would help.
In a response to Ethereum World News, a Tether spokesperson apparently claimed that the company’s reserves will not be used for this investment, but it is unclear how that is possible.
Read more: Explained: El Salvador’s controversial Bitcoin-backed volcanic bonds
northern data group
Northern Data is a Bitcoin mining company that is also focused on using its energy contracts and data centers for artificial intelligence. Tether reportedly owns the majority of the company. Former executives have alleged that the company engaged in securities fraud and tax evasion.
Northern Data is reportedly considering an IPO for its AI division, but Northern Data said it could neither confirm nor deny the rumors.
Read more: Tether-owned Northern Data accused of fraud by former executives
Digital Industry Academy
The Georgia education company has received little funding from Tether, with only $40,000 invested in the stablecoin, according to Crunchbase. Tether appears to have used this investment as more of a PR coup than anything else. With minimal investment, you can publish an announcement about supporting blockchain and cryptocurrency education around the world, while also promoting the “Master Blockchain” course that was being held on Tether. It’s done. Conference co-hosted in Lugano.
Ticket prices for the conference range from $170 to $1,700.
orbit
Orbit, a Lithuanian-based company founded by Israelis, raised $3 million in 2020, followed by $25 million in February of this year. The company’s investors include some of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency industry, from Tether to Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko to 468 Capital.
The company aims to make it easier for both consumers and merchants to use cryptocurrencies by converting them into cash as soon as they are transferred to the merchant. This is probably something Tether plans to support and benefit from.
Read more: Will Tether become Bitcoin’s most influential miner?
satelogic
Satellogic is a Caribbean/Uruguayan company that is involved in the satellite launch business. Between 2013 and 2020, most of the company’s launches took place in China and Russia, but since then the company has partnered with SpaceX to launch from the United States.
Additionally, Satellogic laid off employees last year, lowered its expectations for future launch numbers, and sought new investors due to financial difficulties. After this announcement, Tether essentially bailed out the company by allowing it to borrow money.
The company currently trades at about $1 on the Nasdaq exchange.
CityPay.io
CityPay.io is a Georgian company specializing in cryptocurrency payments. Of the $2.8 million raised, $2.1 million came from Tether.
The push to attract more users to Tether in countries with higher poverty and unemployment rates than in the West likely led the company to prioritize its investment in CityPay.io. Georgia’s unemployment rate has not fallen below 10% since the early 1990s, and the poverty rate remains hovering around 15-20%.
Bitdia Technologies Group
Bitdeer Technologies Group is a NASDAQ-listed cryptocurrency mining group run by Jihan Wu, an (in)famous early Bitcoin miner who became CEO of the company in January of this year.
Tether made a massive $100 million investment in the company a few months ago, pumping into the company many times the amount it had previously received. Unfortunately, since that hike, the publicly traded company’s stock price has remained incredibly volatile, with the company’s stock trading between $14 and $3.20 over the past year.
XREX
XREX identifies itself as a “blockchain-enabled financial institution” that provides “enterprise-level banking for small businesses and entry-level financial services for individuals” around the world. Tether invested $18.75 million in the company, and the announcement said it expects the partnership to “facilitate USDT-based cross-border payments in emerging markets.”
Additionally, the announcement highlights that XREX could clearly lead to new “solutions to detect and prevent stablecoin abuse.”
Collectively, these investments show that Tether is expanding its role within the ecosystem and funding a variety of projects across different sectors, while undergoing less auditing than FTX.
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