Overview
- Tether says it has issued about $1.5 billion in short-term credit to commodity traders using both USDT and U.S. dollars.
- CEO Paolo Ardoino said the firm will “expand dramatically” its exposure in commodity finance in the coming months.
- Lending focuses on oil and agricultural goods such as cotton and wheat through the Trade Finance unit launched in 2022.
- Using USDt enables near-instant cross-border funding that Tether pitches as an alternative where banks have retreated from commodity finance.
- Some traders remain wary of borrowing in USDT due to regulatory and stability concerns, even as Tether points to nearly $200 billion in reserves to support scaling.