Tether seeks $500 billion valuation, would rank among world’s most valuable private firms: Bloomberg

Tether is said to be in talks with investors to raise as much as $20 billion at around a $500 billion valuation, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday.

If completed, the stablecoin issuer would become one of the world's most valuable private companies, ranking alongside Sam Altman's OpenAI and Elon Musk's SpaceX, the report said.

Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg reports that Tether is aiming to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion for about 3% of the company.

"Another person involved in the process cautioned that those are top-end targets and eventual numbers could be significantly lower," Bloomberg reported.

El Salvador-based Tether is the world's largest stablecoin issuer with a supply of $172 billion of USDT tokens. The company recently announced plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin for the U.S. market. Bo Hines, CEO of Tether's newly-created U.S. unit , said at a conference in Seoul that the stablecoin firm "has no plans to raise money."

“The transaction would involve new equity rather than existing investors selling their stakes,” the sources said.

Bloomberg said Cantor Fitzgerald is leading advisor on the potential deal.  Cantor Fitzgerald was, until recently, led by President Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick . Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Cantor Fitzgerald had secured a 5% ownership stake in Tether worth as much as $600 million.

If Tether's hits a $500 billion valuation that would mean Cantor Fitzgerald's stake would be worth $25 billion.

Circle Internet Group, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is Tether's closest rival. The company has a supply of $74 billion in USD-pegged tokens. As of Tuesday Circle, which recently went public via an initial public offering, was worth $30 billion, Bloomberg said.

Tether has been considered by many as perhaps the most profitable company operating in crypto. During the second quarter of this year Tether recorded a net profit of $4.9 billion , the company said.