Once accused of fraud, Tether now a crypto darling

The chief executive of Tether, a cryptocurrency firm that regulators once targeted, recently hobnobbed in Washington with lawmakers and lobbyists, write David Yaffe-Bellany and Kenneth Vogel from San Francisco and Washington

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Last month, Paolo Ardoino, the chief executive of the cryptocurrency company Tether, joined business executives and US lawmakers for a private lunch at the Willard, a luxury hotel near the White House.

For years, Tether had faced accusations that it lied about its finances and allowed crime to flourish on its platform. But at the Willard, Mr Ardoino and other crypto leaders were warmly greeted by Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, who attended the lunch and participated in a group discussion about digital currency regulations and national security, according to four people with knowledge of the event.

The episode was a sign of the changing landscape for crypto firms as President Donald Trump has embraced the industry. Once an elusive overseas operator with little public footprint in the United States, Tether is capitalising on the shift to establish a presence in Washington.

Since Trump's inauguration, Tether has pushed to reshape crypto regulations as it considers starting an operation in the United States. The company's main product is a cryptocurrency known as a stablecoin, which is designed to maintain a price of $1.

Tether is pushing Congress to influence a Senate bill, introduced this year by Mr Hagerty, that outlines rules for stablecoins. And it has launched a publicrelations campaign that featured ads in an insider Washington publication trumpeting its cooperation with US law enforcement.

For years, Tether had been regarded with suspicion. Its stablecoin has proved to be a popular tool for criminals. In 2021, it paid $18.5 million to settle a fraud investigation by the New York attorney general.