“No need to go public:” Tether brushes off IPO talk post Circle debut

The public listing of USDC issuer Circle has raised questions about whether Tether could pursue an IPO of its own. In response, the latter has made its stance clear.

According to recent comments by CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has no plans to go public. Ardoino shared the company’s position in a conversation on X, responding to questions about whether plans for an IPO might be in the works.

“No need to go public,” Ardoino said. He further commented on a community member’s evaluation of what a potential Tether IPO could look like, estimating a $515 billion valuation based on the company’s reported profits.

The post broke down numbers including the firm’s 13 billion profit for 2024, roughly $7.4 billion in projected 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), a common metric used to assess a company’s operational profitability, among others. This places Tether among the top 20 most valuable companies in the world, ahead of giants like Coca-Cola and Costco.

Ardoino commended the evaluation as “beautiful,” hinting that it may even understate Tether’s true value given its increasing Bitcoin and gold holdings. He added that growth remains the priority for the firm, doubling on his response that the firm has no intent of following in its rival’s footsteps. 

Meanwhile, Circle has seen strong early success with its IPO since launching on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The stock, priced at $31 per share opened at $69 on June 5, 2025, surging to an intraday high of $103.75, before closing at $83.23 after losing some of its gains.

Industry players have celebrated the issuer’s win as a major milestone for stablecoins and the broader crypto asset class. According to U.S. CEO of the OKX exchange Roshan Robert in a statement shared with crypto.news, Circle’s IPO “demonstrates that crypto firms can operate transparently and compliantly in U.S. markets.”