Tether mulls tokenizing its stock after seeking up to $20 billion in share sales at $500 billion valuation: Bloomberg
Stablecoin giant Tether is exploring whether to tokenize its equity once it completes a planned share sale that aims to raise as much as $20 billion and value the company at roughly $500 billion, Bloomberg reported Friday.The company is not currently planning to allow existing shareholders to sell into the main round, the outlet said, meaning those investors may need alternative liquidity avenues until an eventual IPO. Tether has not provided any timeline for going public.Tokenization would allow investors to hold digital representations of their equity stake, potentially offering such an alternative liquidity path in the absence of a near-term public listing, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. Executives at the stablecoin giant are also reportedly weighing other mechanisms to ensure investors have a path to exit their positions post-raise, including traditional buybacks.In November 2024, Tether launched its tokenization unit, Hadron, enabling users to mint blockchain-based representations of stocks, bonds, and commodities. Any tokenized equity structure could also build on that framework, though no decision has been made.Tether’s USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin, with roughly $186 billion in circulation, per The Block’s data, and the company has forecast profits of about $15 billion this year.The Block reached out to Tether for comment.Secondary sale tensions emergeDiscussion around tokenizing shares comes as Tether apparently intervened to halt at least one existing shareholder from attempting to sell stock at a steep discount that would have valued the firm at around $280 billion, well below the target valuation sought in the raise.Tether reportedly said it had "received clear confirmation that these efforts will not proceed," calling attempts to bypass its formal fundraising process "imprudent" and "reckless."A valuation of $500 billion would position Tether among the highest-valued private firms globally and far above its crypto-native peers. Previous reports said that Tether has held talks with strategic investors, including SoftBank and Ark Invest, as part of the fundraising effort.Tokenized equity markets remain small despite gaining momentum in 2025, with several financial and crypto firms experimenting with blockchain-based representations of traditional assets. While broader real-world-asset tokenization has climbed to over $18 billion in circulating value, according to rwa.xyz data, the sector is still a tiny fraction of global markets.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.© 2025 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.