Richard Heathcote, the former chief investment officer of Tether, is looking to sell part of his 1.26% stake in the company. Bloomberg broke the story, citing sources familiar with the deal. Heathcote stepped down from his CIO role back in March but stayed on as an advisor after overseeing Tether’s investment portfolio.
Tether issues USDT — the biggest stablecoin out there. We’re talking roughly $184 billion in circulation, which gives USDT about 59% of the entire stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama. A stake sale like this is rare. Tether’s privately held and famously tight-lipped about its ownership structure, even as it’s become one of the most profitable companies in crypto.
The timing’s interesting. Tether’s been dealing with regulatory heat in Europe. USDT got delisted from several MiCA-compliant platforms after Tether decided not to play ball with the EU’s crypto framework. Revolut just announced it’s dropping the stablecoin too.
Meanwhile, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino keeps saying the company doesn’t need to go public. But other crypto firms are eyeing IPOs. Kraken’s been taking steps toward a public listing — it confidentially filed with the SEC back in November 2025. Though that might slip to 2027 after some AI-related layoffs. South Korea’s Bithumb is pushing its IPO past 2028.
So here’s the picture: one of Tether’s former top execs is cashing out some chips, regulators are circling, and the rest of the industry is watching. Not exactly business as usual.
