$BTC

‘They Make No Money’: Here’s What Tether’s CEO Had to Say About Circle Before Its Massive IPO

‘They Make No Money’: Here’s What Tether’s CEO Had to Say About Circle Before Its Massive IPO

During an April interview, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino unloaded on competitor Circle and its big Wall Street plans—which culminated today, to massive success.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino dismissed competitor Circle's business model and IPO strategy during an April interview.

Ardoino called plans by his competitors to "focus on institutional adoption" short-sighted.

Today, Circle's IPO shattered expectations on Wall Street, tripling price projections and making the company billions.

It was early April, during the middle of a conversation with Decrypt at Cantor Fitzgerald’s swanky midtown Manhattan headquarters, that Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino abruptly asked to pause the interview. The reason? He’d noticed a “weird message” on the laptop open in front of him. 

After twenty seconds of silence in the conference room, Ardoino’s face flashed a big grin. Reports were circulating that Circle, one of Tether’s chief competitors, might tap the brakes on its long-planned IPO. 

”People were not impressed by their financials and disclosures,” Ardoino said in reaction at the time. “They make no money, I guess.” 

“It's funny because I kept saying they were making no money, forever,” the Tether CEO continued. “And people were saying, ‘Oh, Paolo, of course you are, you’re a competitor.’ But it's clear.’”

Two months later, Circle’s IPO has finally hit Wall Street—and the company is having anything but money troubles. On Thursday, the stablecoin issuer’s stock more than tripled its $31 IPO target price on its first day of trading, eclipsing $100 and sending the company’s fully diluted market capitalization surging past $19 billion.

Excitement around Circle’s Wall Street debut was so pronounced on Thursday that the New York Stock Exchange had to halt trading of the stock, CRCL, multiple times