Tether CEO: Sleep 5 hours a night, aiming for 100x rise in Tether

Compiled & Edited by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Guest: Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO & Bitfinex CTO

Host: Kevin Follonier

Podcast Source: When Shift Happens

Original Title: USDT Founder: Bitcoin, GOLD, Stablecoin, & Tether, the Most Profitable Company in the World | EP 143

Broadcast Date: October 16, 2025

Key Takeaways

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether (CEO) and CTO of Bitfinex (CTO), shared how he built one of the most profitable companies in the world—where each employee generates about $100 million in Profit on average.

Tether launched USDT, the most widely used Stablecoin (Stablecoin) globally, providing financial support to around 3 billion unbanked people worldwide, especially in countries facing extreme Inflation and financial crises.

Against the backdrop of increasing global economic instability, Paolo founded a company dedicated to bringing stability through “democratizing finance,” achieving extraordinary success. Last year, Tether’s revenue reached $13.7 billion.

Highlights

• I usually get at least 5 h of sleep every night. But the problem is my sleep is fragmented because I always keep notifications on, waking up every hour to check them before going back to sleep.
• My hometown is a small village with only 600 people, so entertainment was limited. I started learning programming at age 8, and this passion continued through college and up to now.
• I personally have almost no hobbies. In fact, my only hobby is thinking every day about how to fulfill my mission and bring stability to the world.
• USDT exists to provide financial stability for people in emerging markets facing extreme economic instability.
• Tether isn’t just a Stablecoin company, it’s a stability company. That’s Tether’s mission and the true meaning of a “stability company”—a company whose ultimate goal is social stability.
• What we need to do is make access to finance and technology more democratic, allowing more people to participate directly through peer-to-peer technology and Decentralized Finance.
• Tether is a once-in-a-century company. Unlike other companies trying to build closed ecosystems, Tether’s platform is open to the entire world. This is a completely different business model and the key to our success.
• Everyone should have their own mission, big or small, as long as it makes you happy.
• People usually express emotions and ideas through art, but I realized my way of expression is through programming—I can create my own world and invite people in through code.
• Stablecoins are actually the ultimate social network.
• Through this round of financing ($20 billion), we want to show the world that Tether’s mission goes far beyond this—our goal is to achieve a 100x rise. Tether has the capital, philosophy, and technological innovation to do anything we want.
• If you create products that solve real problems, they can truly change the world.
• Soccer is a global sport that reaches people of all backgrounds, rich or poor. That’s why investing in a soccer club is a simple way to reach global users—we hold a 10% stake in Serie A’s Juventus club.

Motivation for Continued Effort

Kevin Follonier: Many of my guests have one thing in common—they’ve experienced something in life that left them with a sense of imbalance. Is Tether’s mission today related to something you lacked when you were younger?

Paolo Ardoino:

I consider myself lucky. My family wasn’t wealthy, but I learned the most important lesson from them—hard work. I remember my grandparents, who have passed away, ran a small farm in Italy. They focused on producing high-quality olive oil and tomatoes, paying great attention to detail. Whether it was tomatoes, sage, rosemary, or asparagus, they always strived for excellence, and this passion lasted their whole lives.

My grandfather woke up at 5 a.m. every day, took a nap at 1 p.m., and continued working in the evening. This simple, fulfilling life kept him happy. He only had an elementary education but was excellent at math. My parents were also hardworking role models. My mother was a kindergarten teacher, and my father was a regular employee at Italy’s national energy company before retiring in Israel. They’re both still alive, and I’m grateful for that. After work, they’d take us to play sports and then help out on the farm. From morning to night, our lives were about waking up, working hard, and getting things done—but all of it was filled with passion. I never heard them complain, because for them, this was their mission.

Everyone should have their own mission, big or small, as long as it makes you happy. So when people say, “Oh, you work so hard,” I reply, no, the meaning I see in hard work goes far beyond that—I’m definitely not just working hard.

My schedule is also very unique. I usually get at least 5 h of sleep every night. But the problem is my sleep is fragmented because I always keep notifications on, waking up every hour to check them before going back to sleep.

Kevin Follonier: You’ve been doing this for 11 years—5 h of sleep a night, waking up every hour? Do you nap during the day?

Paolo Ardoino:

No. If I nap during the day, I feel groggy. So I never take naps.

Started Programming at Age 8

Kevin Follonier: You started programming at age 8? How did that happen?

Paolo Ardoino:

My father worked at Italy’s national energy company. In the early 90s, public enterprises in Italy began introducing computers to improve efficiency and modernize. Italy’s bureaucracy is famously complex, and many tasks took a long time, so computers made a big difference. My father was passionate about these new technologies. I remember when I was 7, he brought home a computer and told me it was very expensive—about two months’ salary. I didn’t really understand what two months’ salary meant, but he told me to be careful with it and not break it.

As an only child, I was naturally curious about the computer. We had floppy disks for games, but couldn’t afford many due to financial reasons. Plus, in 1991 Italy, games were hard to find. My hometown was a small village with only 600 people, so entertainment was limited. Over time, I got bored with the games we had and wanted to make my own. I asked my father to buy me a book on how to program games. He said, “Okay, Paolo, I can buy it, but it costs 60,000 lira.”

Back then, Italy still used lira. He asked, “Are you sure you want this book? It’s expensive.” I said, “I want to learn.” He brought the book home, and I started learning programming—a passion that continued through college and up to now.

The Infinite Possibilities of Programming

Kevin Follonier: You’ve mentioned that programming is a unique form of expression, different from other art forms, unleashing human imagination and letting us create new worlds full of possibilities. Can you elaborate?

Paolo Ardoino:

Of course. Honestly, I’m not good at traditional art forms. I used to be a decent guitar player, but haven’t played in years. In other arts, I have zero talent. In school art classes, whether technical drawing or hands-on projects, my work was always messy. I remember waving my arm too much while drawing, scribbling randomly with the pencil, and the results were always unsatisfactory. I couldn’t color, couldn’t sing—basically, I couldn’t do even the most basic artistic expression.

But people usually express emotions and ideas through art, and I realized my way of expression is through programming. I can create my own world and invite people in through code.

What Is a Stablecoin & Why Are Stablecoins So Important?

Kevin Follonier: You use programming to create Stablecoins. What is a Stablecoin? If you had to explain it to a mother, how would you do it?

Paolo Ardoino:

Simply put, a Stablecoin is a digital currency, like the digital balance you see in your bank account. The difference is, Stablecoins Use blockchain technology for transfers, not the bank’s system. You can think of it as a “digital dollar” that can flow freely worldwide like cash.

Blockchain is a decentralized technology, like a borderless giant database, with servers distributed globally instead of being concentrated in one bank or institution. We Use the best database format—decentralized database—to move dollars.

Kevin Follonier: Why are Stablecoins so important in our world?

Paolo Ardoino:

Stablecoins matter because they provide solutions for billions of people lacking financial services. These people often live in countries with high Inflation—Europe’s Inflation rate is 30% to 34%, Turkey’s is 50%, Nigeria’s is even higher, and Argentina’s sometimes exceeds 200%. In these countries, high Inflation causes local currencies to lose value quickly, severely impacting purchasing power. Now, in 2025, everyone is interested in Stablecoins.

In developed countries like the US and Europe, financial systems are efficient—you probably have a bank account, credit card, and payment tools like Cash App or PayPal, with almost no barriers to daily transfers. But in some developing countries, financial system efficiency may be only 5%, and many people can’t even open an account. Stablecoins, through blockchain, can boost financial efficiency in these regions to 60% or 70%. For someone living in a remote African village, this is a huge change—it lets them participate in the global economy and brings more opportunities.

The internet started to make this connection possible—in fact, the internet invites people into a global context, but without financial services, the internet is meaningless. I believe Stablecoins are actually the ultimate social network, because the currency of social networks is, in my view, the ultimate social network—it’s about human interaction, peer-to-peer interaction, and it inherently contains value and the information you want to transfer.

Tether’s Mission & Becoming a Stability Company

Kevin Follonier: So what is your mission?

Paolo Ardoino:

My mission is to bring stability to the world. In a world growing more restless and chaotic, I think stability is especially important. It may sound strange, but Tether’s success is actually tied to the worsening of many global problems. If the financial system were fair, resources accessible, and everything worked well, USDT wouldn’t need to exist. USDT exists to provide financial stability for people in emerging markets facing extreme economic instability.

As a Developer, I think we’re building Tether into a leader in technology—not just in finance, but also in telecom, social media, and energy. Our goal is to Use decentralized technology to make these industries more open and accessible, just like we did with dollars and finance. That’s Tether’s core mission. Notably, most of our Profit isn’t distributed to shareholders—about 95% stays in the company, invested in new things and ideas to support our mission.

I personally have almost no hobbies. In fact, my only hobby is thinking every day about how to fulfill this mission. I’m obsessed with this question—I’m the kind of person who gets deeply into a field, and it basically takes over my life.

Kevin Follonier: You mentioned in Docker Times that as global instability rises, Tether will continue investing part of its Profit in safe Assets like Bitcoin, GOLD, and land. So, what is a stability company?

Paolo Ardoino:

I often think about what a “stability company” really is. Once, a reporter asked me to define Tether in a few words, trying to say Tether is a Stablecoin company. My answer was, Tether isn’t just a Stablecoin company, it’s a stability company.

In my view, access to technology and finance is key to social stability. If people can easily access technology and financial services, they have less motivation to create chaos and instability. Often, social unrest stems from dissatisfaction, which is usually rooted in extremely difficult living conditions.

Of course, there are other causes of instability, but overall, I think global stability is closely linked to the huge gaps between countries and regions. Over the past 20–30 years, technology has tried to close these gaps, but actually made inequality worse. The same is true in finance—about half the world’s population can’t reliably access financial services, or even open an account. It’s not because they’re untrustworthy, but because their poverty means banks aren’t interested. This is especially true in some African and Central American countries, where stability is severely affected because technology and financial resources are distributed almost entirely to a wealthy minority.

What we need to do is make access to finance and technology more democratic, allowing more people to participate directly through peer-to-peer technology and Decentralized Finance. I believe when people’s lives, families, communities, and countries become more stable, they have less motivation to create chaos. That’s Tether’s mission and the true meaning of a “stability company”—a company whose ultimate goal is social stability. We’ve proven such a company can be built. And, encouragingly, the more we move in this direction, the more profitable the company becomes.

That’s why I call Tether a once-in-a-century company. It’s not bragging—Tether’s uniqueness is that the more it pushes Open Source, openness, and decentralization, the more it attracts a broader user base. These users Use Tether’s tools to achieve financial freedom and freedom of speech, and the more widespread this becomes, the more valuable the company’s data is. Unlike other companies trying to build closed ecosystems, Tether’s platform is open to the entire world. This is a completely different business model and the key to our success.

Tether: The Company With the Highest Profit Per Employee Globally

Kevin Follonier: You’ve said Tether is one of the world’s best companies, with a Profit margin as high as 99%. How did you build a company where each employee generates about $100 million in Profit per year? Have you thought deeply about this?

Paolo Ardoino:

Honestly, I haven’t focused much on those numbers. We always focus on optimizing efficiency—whenever I do something, I ask: why do it this way? Is there a better way? How can we improve efficiency further? Two years ago, Tether’s team was only 40 people, but as business expanded, we now have 250–300 employees, including many Developers as we move into new areas like AI. However, the core Stablecoin management team is still about 100 people.

Of course, today’s high Interest Rate environment helps our Profit a lot. Before 2022, global Interest Rates were low—this change was hard to predict. The pandemic also had an unexpected impact, and these factors together drove our Profit growth. Still, we believe expanding into new business areas will help us maintain high Profit long-term. Optimizing efficiency and seizing opportunities are key to our success.

Why Raise $20 Billion?

Kevin Follonier: You recently announced you’re considering raising $20 billion, valuing the company at $500 billion. If you got the funds tomorrow, how would you Use them?

Paolo Ardoino:

Last year we made $13.7 billion in Profit, and this year should be similar. But I want to stress, our fundraising isn’t just about making money—it’s about sending an important message. Like the Joker said in Batman: “It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message.” We want this fundraising to show the world that Tether’s mission goes far beyond this—our goal is to achieve a 100x rise.

Once, in public, I mentioned I’m a big fan of Peter Thiel and am reading his book “Zero to One.” But now, it’s no longer the era where startups can make huge Profits just by simple data growth. I’d rather say our goal is to go from our current base to the “Zero to 100” stage. I’ve called it “0.25,” because we’re just getting started.

I say this because it’s not about how much we’ve made, but about the potential we see and our view of this opportunity.

I define Tether as a once-in-a-century opportunity because I believe every company needs three things: philosophy, Side, and capital. First, you need a philosophy or belief—know what kind of company you want to be; second, you need innovation, whether in technology or other fields; third, you need capital. Most companies only have one or two of these. You can be a big innovator with the right philosophy, but if you lack funds, you have to raise money and go to VCs. But VCs are incentivized to make more than they invest, which can pull you away from your original project, philosophy, and ideas.

I think in this case, Tether has capital, philosophy, and technological innovation—we can do anything we want. So our message is, we have a lot more to show, we want massive rise, and our vision is amazing. We want partners to join us and help realize this unique and powerful vision—we don’t want to mess it up.

Why Did Tether Invest in @Plasma?

Kevin Follonier: Tether recently invested in a company called Plasma, whose founder Paul was previously on our podcast and helped us build this platform. Why is Plasma so important that Tether decided to invest?

Paolo Ardoino:

I think Tether’s USDT isn’t just a digital currency—it’s a key part of blockchain technology. Stablecoins are essentially digital dollars based on blockchain technology. But over the years, blockchain’s development has gone off track. Many Developers focus on quickly launching hype-driven blockchain projects, like MEME coins such as Dogecoin. While this may work short-term, it doesn’t really advance the industry. Still, these projects have made some teams money.

USDT’s success proves one thing: If you create products that solve real problems, they can truly change the world.

So I think Stablecoin-focused or purpose-built blockchains can make Stablecoin transfers very cheap and easy to Use. For example, if you have Stablecoins on Ether, you still need to buy ETH as gas to transfer USDT—this user experience needs improvement. I think even though the blockchain industry has developed for years, user experience is still poor because we’ve focused on the wrong things, only on our own “ecosystem,” which is mostly geeks and people with time to learn new stuff. For most ordinary people, this doesn’t work. That’s why USDT is so popular globally—USDT isn’t catering to speculators.

An interesting stat shows 67% of USDT Trades are just for transferring funds, while only 10–20% of other Stablecoin Trades involve transferring other Assets. This means most USDT users just want stable $1 value. In contrast, 80% of other Stablecoin users are also moving other Assets, meaning they’re more into Decentralized Finance asset trading. So, I’d rather USDT serve tens of millions of ordinary users in Africa than just 10,000 New York bankers.

Why Does Tether Own 10% of Juventus Football Club?

Kevin Follonier: Tether recently invested in Juventus Football Club, holding about 10% of its shares. Why would a Stablecoin-focused company invest in a soccer club?

Paolo Ardoino:

First, both Giancarlo and I are die-hard Juventus fans. Giancarlo is from Piedmont, Italy, where Juventus is the iconic team. I grew up near Genoa, about 80–100 km from Turin. Many people from my hometown vacation in Piedmont, so Juventus has a big influence. My father is a Juventus fan, and I inherited that, as did Giancarlo.

Another reason is, we think Italy’s soccer industry needs modernization. In Italy, clubs are often used by entrepreneurs as power tools—they usually own both media and clubs, using these resources for political activity. In contrast, we see countries like Saudi Arabia investing in soccer, and clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain, which have hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. Soccer is a global sport that reaches people of all backgrounds, rich or poor. So investing in a soccer club is a simple way to reach global users.

We want Italian clubs to build closer ties with fans, spread positive values, and achieve Profit through modern management. Club success should be based on team strength, match results, and fan engagement. But in many Italian clubs, this model hasn’t really happened. By investing in Juventus, we hope to drive change in Italy’s soccer industry and make Juventus more international and forward-looking.