Dive Brief:

• Stablecoin issuer Tether named its longtime CFO, Giancarlo Devasini, as its chairman, according to a Monday announcement. Devasini, who also serves as CFO for fellow cryptocurrency firm Bitfinex, is Tether’s controlling shareholder with a net worth of roughly $8.2 billion, according to a Bloomberg profile.
• Tether also appointed Simon McWilliams as its CFO in a move the company called “a historic step toward a full financial audit.” McWilliams will “spearhead Tether’s further commitment to transparency and regulatory readiness,” Tether said, citing the CFO’s two decades of experience “leading large investment management firms through rigorous audits.”
• Prior to joining Tether, McWilliams most recently served as senior business advisor for fintech WizzFinancial, according to his LinkedIn profile. His previous roles include serving as CFO for investment management company LetterOne and as Chief Operating Officer for hedge fund Quantmetrics Capital Management.

Dive Insight:

McWilliams’ “expertise in financial audits makes him the perfect CFO to lead Tether into this new era of transparency,” Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, said in a statement included in the release.

The CFO swap comes as El Salvador-based Tether looks to expand its offerings and services across the “institutional financial system,” with the full audit representing a “crucial step” in that strategy, the stablecoin issuer said Monday.

Its bid to create transparency comes as the issuer looks to leave behind a somewhat checkered history with U.S. regulators and other governing bodies and as President Donald Trump in his second term in the White House widens the spotlight on stablecoins and other digital assets.

One of the largest players in the cryptocurrency space, Tether’s USDT stablecoin has a market capitalization of roughly $142 billion — the fourth-largest crypto asset by market cap behind Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP.

While the company has grown rapidly, it has historically struggled to convince its investors of the strength of its reserves, in part because while the company issues attestation reports of its profits and assets, it has yet to issue audited reports. Tether saw net profits of over $13 billion for 2024, according to its latest attestation report published in January and conducted by accounting firm BDO. Tether also saw an “all-time high” of $113 billion in its direct and indirect holdings related to the U.S. Treasury in Q4, according to the report.

Tether has also come under regulatory scrutiny regarding its stablecoin. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a $41 million civil monetary penalty to Tether in 2021 over what the regulator called misleading claims that its USDT token was fully backed by fiat currencies including the U.S. dollar and the euro. Bitfinex, at the same time, was ordered to pay a $1.5 million such penalty over illegal retail commodity transactions.  

The federal government was probing the company regarding possible sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations, The Wall Street Journal reported in October, citing people familiar with the matter. Other reports alleged the USDT stablecoin had been used as a funding tool for several illegal undertakings representing a threat to national security, including use by drug cartels, terrorist groups and arms dealers, according to the Journal.

Tether condemned the report in a short statement published on its website, stating it was “based on pure rank speculation despite Tether confirming that it has no knowledge of any such investigations into the company”.

Tether’s plan to conduct a full audit could represent a bid to burnish its reputation as the Trump administration cultivates a friendlier relationship with the cryptocurrency industry. Under the new administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has eased enforcement actions, dropping investigations into crypto platforms such as Robinhood and Coinbase.

Shortly after Trump took office, the SEC launched a crypto task force aiming to develop a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. 

“As policymakers and institutions assess the evolving role of stablecoins, Tether is positioning itself as a trusted partner in strengthening the global reach of the U.S. dollar,” the stablecoin issuer said Monday.

Tether did not immediately respond to requests for comment.