Former Tether CEO to debut rival, yield-bearing stablecoin on Ethereum and Solana: Bloomberg

Reeve Collins, one of the original founders of Tether, is launching his own stablecoin, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Like some new entrants into the stablecoin fold, such as Ethena and M^0, Collin’s Pi Protocol will offer holders yield likely earned on tokenized real-world assets. This stands apart from the first stablecoins, like fiat-backed USDT and USDC, and the algorithmically-supported DAI, which simply tracks the value of the U.S. dollar. According to Bloomberg, the stablecoin protocol will launch on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains in the second half of 2025.It is unclear how the stablecoin will generate yield, though several exiting tokens pass along revenues earned on tokenized "real-world assets" like U.S. Treasuries. Mountain Protocol's USDM stablecoin, introduced last year, currently offers holders about 5% in annual yield earned off its backing assets.Ethena's sUSDe stablecoin currently comprises most of the yield-bearing synthetic dollar market cap, with about $4.5 billion worth of tokens in circulation. This is followed by MakerDAO's "savings" DAI, sDAI, and BlackRock's BUIDL fund, according to The Block's data. In 2024, Tether reported earning over $13 billion in net profits from its basket of reserve assets, including government bonds, reverse repurchase agreements (repos), and money market funds.Collins served as chief executive officer of Tether from 2013 to 2015 after creating the Tether stablecoin and Tether corporation with Brock Pierce and Craig Sellars. Collins suggested renaming Tether's precursor "Realcoin," which debuted onchain in October 2014 on the Bitcoin Omni layer. During his time as CEO, Collins helped establish Tether’s close association with the Bitfinex crypto exchange, which acquired Tether shortly after his departure in 2015. Collins also built one of the first NFT platforms, BLOCKv, which raised $22 million in an initial coin offering in 2017. He most recently sold a gaming startup, Pala Interactive, which raised $70 million, to Boyd Gaming. Tether is now the most actively traded cryptocurrency. It has a market capitalization of $141 billion, according to The Block’s price page. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.