Tether Fires Back at JPMorgan Stablecoin Skepticism
Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino recently responded to JPMorgan's co-president Doug Petno, who downplayed institutional interest in stablecoins. Speaking at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, Petno said that institutions don't want stablecoins yet due to interoperability gaps, regulation, and know-your-customer rules.
Ardoino was quick to respond, saying 'Tether sees little demand from the North Pole for imported ice' when referring to Petno's remarks. This response comes as Tether's token, USDT, carries a market value near $183 billion, with all stablecoins totaling about $311 billion.
JPMorgan has been cautious in its approach to stablecoins, despite running a blockchain payments arm called Kinexys and building tokenized deposit rails. The bank's research team expects the stablecoin market to reach $500 billion to $750 billion, which is significantly lower than some forecasters' projections of $2 trillion.
Tether has been working to increase transparency, with KPMG delivering its first clean audit in August. However, the reserve cushion behind USDT has since thinned.