Cantor Fitzgerald, which currently maintains the majority of Tether’s $133 billion+ held in reserves, has reportedly negotiated a 5% ownership stake in the stablecoin USDT issuer within the last year (as reported recently by the WSJ).
Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Officer and majority owner Howard Lutnick have served as a co-chair of US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. Notably, they have been nominated for Commerce Secretary, which, according to industry professionals, might lead to a more pro-crypto stance in US policy.
During the last year, Cantor strengthened its relationship with stablecoin USDT issuer Tether. It’s now being reported that a deal has been made between the parties for a 5% ownership stake in Tether that is reportedly valued at approximately $600 million. This, according to the recent WSJ report.
As mentioned in the update, this could value the stablecoin issuer at about $12 billion.
Tether’s senior management views Lutnick as a key partner in addressing legislation intended to increase regulatory scrutiny of stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT.
The WSJ report pointed out that Tether owner Giancarlo Devasini stated earlier in 2024 that Lutnick will aim to use his political influence to attempt to address various threats that Tether could be dealing with.
A representative revealed to the WSJ that Tether’s relationship with Cantor is considered to be strictly professional (which is reportedly based on managing reserves).
As mentioned in the media reports, the assertion that Lutnick’s involvement in a transition team “translates to influence over regulatory actions is laughable.”
Tether’s USD-pegged USDT token decisively remains the largest stablecoin in terms of overall market cap.
Cantor Fitzgerald reportedly maintains the majority of Tether’s $133 billion in assets – which is in exchange for millions in fees every financial year, according to sources familiar with Cantor’s operations (as revealed in the WSJ report).
At present, a criminal probe is trying to determine if Tether is currently being used by other entities for illegal transactions involving terrorism as well as hacking (but this is only according to a media report and nothing substantial regarding this issue has emerged at the time of writing).
As per media reports, the US Treasury Department has been considering sanctioning Tether due to of the stablecoin’s alleged use by US-sanctioned individuals and organizations/entities.
Notably, Tether has grown steadily from surging Treasury yields and reported $7.7 billion in profit during the first 9 months of 2024.
Lutnick stated this past week that he will resign from his roles at Cantor, BGC and Newmark after the Senate confirmation has officially been made.
Lutnich also shared that he plans to begin divesting his interests / exposure in these firms to adhere to the American government’s ethical guidelines. They clarified that they do not anticipate deals that would require selling off any shares via the open markets.