Tether Invests $100 Million in Crypto Bank Anchorage Digital

Cryptocurrency-focused bank Anchorage Digital says it has received a $100 investment from stablecoin issuer Tether.

The investment, announced Thursday (Feb. 4), follows collaborations between the two companies, as Anchorage is Tether’s U.S. stablecoin issuer, and values the bank at $4.2 billion.

“This moment reflects years of deliberate execution. Tether’s investment is a strong signal of conviction from one of the most scaled and sophisticated operators in the digital asset ecosystem.

“At the same time, launching our first employee tender offer allows us to reward the builders who believed early and stayed the course. We’ve always said we’re building a generational company—and this is what that looks like in practice.”

Founded in 2017, Anchorage Digital is the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the U.S., offering trading, staking, custody, governance, settlement, and stablecoin issuance services. Last week, the company teamed with Tether on the issuance of, a U.S.-focused, dollar-backed stablecoin, designed to comply with the GENIUS Act.

“Tether exists to challenge the status quo and build global infrastructure for freedom,” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in the release.

“Our investment in Anchorage Digital reflects a shared belief in the importance of secure, transparent, and resilient financial systems. Anchorage Digital has set the standard for institutional digital asset infrastructure and U.S. stablecoin issuance, and we are pleased to support its continued growth.”

The funding announcement comes one day after Tether disputed reports that it had dialed back fundraising plans in response to investor concerns about a proposed $500 billion valuation.

The Financial Times had reported that advisers for the digital asset firm recently floated raising as little as $5 billion, down from a reported $15 billion to $20 billion target from last year. But in an interview with Reuters, Paolo Ardoino challenged the characterization of a strategic retreat, calling the rumors a “misconception.”

He added that the higher capital ranges discussed previously were designed to be “a maximum in hypothetical scenarios, not as a target and not as a capital raising plan.”

Also this week, PYMNTS wrote about the global efforts to regulate stablecoins, as the debate around whether stablecoins should be allowed to pay yield is holding up U.S. legislation.

“The battle lines are primarily being drawn around the fact that banks are pressing lawmakers to stop stablecoin ‘rewards’ that look and feel like deposit interest, arguing they could accelerate deposit flight and pressure credit creation,” that report said. “Crypto firms, for their part, are countering that yield is the product feature customers already expect in a high-rate world, and that banning it may offshore innovation and entrench incumbents.”