Tether returns to the US market! CEO Ardoino: Targeting institutional payments and bank settlements

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in an interview with Bloomberg this morning that due to the official implementation of the US stablecoin bill 'GENIUS Act' and the establishment of clear regulations for stablecoin oversight, they have decided to enter the US market, focusing on institutional payments, interbank settlements, and trading markets. After the signing ceremony, President Trump personally thanked Ardoino and expressed gratitude to Tether for its contributions to the crypto industry. Tether, currently headquartered in El Salvador, has previously faced criticism for lack of transparency and was accused by US regulatory bodies in 2021 for issuing misleading statements. To settle, Tether paid nearly $60 million in fines to New York State and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and was prohibited from operating in New York State. Ardoino stated in the interview: "We will focus on the US institutional market, providing efficient stablecoins primarily for payments, interbank settlements, and trading." Regarding potential competition with Circle's USDC in the US market, Ardoino clearly stated: "We are not interested in going public." Despite plans to return to the US market, Ardoino emphasized: "Tether has performed exceptionally well in emerging markets over the past 10 years. We have better technology and understand these markets' needs, and will continue to focus on emerging markets." ETH has risen 150% since its April low point. Bitwise ETF founder Matt Hougan noted that demand from ETFs and Ethereum reserve strategy companies has created a severe supply-demand imbalance, and he believes this situation will continue, remaining bullish on ETH.

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Funds Continue to Flow In, Supply-Demand Imbalance Causes ETH to Rise Significantly

Matt Hougan explained the reasons for the recent ETH price increase.

Since mid-May, significant funds have flowed into the Ethereum ETF, with over $5 billion in inflows. Ethereum reserve strategy companies like Bitmine and SharpLink have also entered the market to buy coins. According to Bitwise's estimates, during this period, ETF and Ethereum reserve strategy companies collectively bought 2.83 million ETH, valued at over $10 billion, which is 32 times the increase in ETH supply during the same period - no wonder ETH has seen such a stunning rise!

Ethereum Reserve Strategy Companies Will Accelerate ETH Purchases

Hougan predicts that this situation will continue in the future!

ETH's market cap is currently 20% of BTC's, but the scale of Ethereum ETF is still less than 12% of the BTC ETF. With the growth of tokenization and stablecoin demand (primarily based on Ethereum), Hougan believes this will change, and billions of dollars will flow into Ethereum ETF in the coming months.

At the same time, all signs indicate that the "Ethereum Reserve Strategy" trend will accelerate. The key to the growth of crypto asset management companies is whether their publicly traded stock prices are higher than the value of their crypto assets, and currently, ETH fund management companies are indeed in this situation. For example, BMNR and SBET's trading prices are almost twice the value of their ETH holdings. As long as this continues, it's certain that Wall Street companies will invest more funds in buying ETH.

In 2025, ETF and Ethereum Reserve Strategy Companies Will Buy Over 5 Million ETH

Looking ahead, Bitwise predicts that ETF and Ethereum reserve strategy companies will purchase ETH worth $20 billion next year, which is equivalent to 5.33 million ETH at current prices. During the same period, the Ethereum network will produce about 800,000 ETH. This represents a demand approximately 7 times the supply.

ETH is certainly different from BTC. Its price is not solely determined by supply and demand, nor does it have a long-term issuance cap like BTC. But Hougan believes this is not important right now.

In the short term, the prices of all commodities are determined by supply and demand. Currently, the demand for ETH far exceeds the new supply.