Paolo Ardoino

Early career

After completing his education, Ardoino joined the University of Genoa as researcher, where he worked on research projects involving cybersecurity and cryptography for military applications.[8][9] He left the University of Genoa in 2011.[9] In 2011, Ardoino worked at a hedge fund, where he developed and calibrated trading algorithms.[10][11]

In 2013, Ardoino moved to London, where he founded Fincluster, a technology startup that built cloud-based financial service applications for fund managers and institutions across London, Milan, and Lugano.

Bitfinex and Tether

In 2014, Ardoino joined Bitfinex as a software engineer.[1] At Bitfinex, he worked on the exchange’s trading engine and backend infrastructure, focusing on scalability and high availability.[12] In 2016, he became chief technology officer.[13] In 2017, Ardoino became chief technology officer of Tether.[8]

Later work and leadership

In 2022, Ardoino founded Holepunch, an open-source platform designed for building P2P products with computer scientist Mathias Buus.[14] In March 2022, he worked with Michele Foletti, the mayor of Lugano, Switzerland, to accept Tether and other cryptocurrencies for municipal payments.[15]

In December 2023, Ardoino was appointed chief executive officer of Tether.[8] Under his leadership, Tether's stablecoin, USDT, has become the largest United States dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization.[16] Bitfinex has also been reported to be among the largest exchanges by Bitcoin holdings.[17]

Tether has invested approximately $2.5 billion in sustainable energy and technology sectors and about $1 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure company Northern Data[18] and $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech, an American brain implant company, taking a majority stake.[19] Ardoino has stated that these investments are funded from Tether's profits rather than customer reserves.[20]

In January 2025, Ardoino said that Tether would relocate its headquarters to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license there, and that he and other company executives planned to move their residences to the country.[21]

Under his leadership, Tether has supported El Salvador's Volcano Energy renewable power project[22] aimed at supporting the country's Bitcoin adoption, and has invested in renewable energy and sustainable Bitcoin mining initiatives in Uruguay.[23]

2025–present

Following the passage of the GENIUS Act, Ardoino attended the signing of the legislation at the White House.[24] He was also acknowledged by President Trump in opening remarks.[25]