secondary title
Tether has no exposure to Signature Bank
Signature Bank was closed by New York state regulators on Sunday, as previously reported. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has taken over the bank. All depositors of Signature will be fully compensated in a joint statement issued by the Federal Reserve, FDIC and the U.S. Treasury Department.
https://twitter.com/paoloardoino/status/1635046393357426689
secondary title
La Regione interviews Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino: "Lugano is an ideal environment to encourage innovation"
If there's one thing to admire about the Plan ₿ project, it's its topicality. For better or worse, City Hall’s decision to transform Lugano into the Bitcoin capital has made the city’s name stand out in the cryptocurrency world. Contributing to this popularity is the involvement of Tether, the world's most widely used stablecoin, and its CTO, Paolo Ardoino, on the project.
Unlike other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are pegged to the value of real money, in this case the U.S. dollar. The whole Plan ₿ project certainly wouldn't have been possible without Tether's expertise and contributions, and we decided to have a chat with the man who made Tether possible, the Lugano of the crypto world.
Let's start from the beginning, who is Paolo Ardoino?
I'm Italian and I'm from a small village near Alassio in Liguria. I've always been passionate about computers: in fact, I started programming at the age of eight, and now that I'm 38, I can say I have some experience in this field. I've always been passionate about disruptive technologies in general. I studied Mathematics Applied to Information Technology at the University of Genoa, where I worked as a researcher for a while after graduation.
Then I was more and more exposed to the financial field, and to be honest, my first experience in this field was in Lugano in 2009. The experience didn't last long as I moved to London shortly after, where I stayed for a long time. I started my own start-up company providing financial related technology services. In 2014, I approached Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange, and three years later, I approached Tether, becoming its technical director (CTO).
What tasks has he performed for Bitfinex and Tether?
I first joined Bitfinex as a developer, then became its CTO in 2016, and during those years I was responsible for creating the entire trading structure within the platform. On the other hand, as the CTO of Tether, I mainly deal with the security and supervision of the management process of this stable currency. The part related to security is of course one of the most important as we cannot afford to take risks in this regard given the massive adoption and number of customers of this currency.
Why did you decide to settle in Lugano?
I'm actually someone who travels 95% of the time, often to countries where the market is more attractive to us. I settled in Lugano because it was a good base, because besides liking it the city, it was close to Italy where my family was, and it was full of potential, also thanks to its important university composition part. Also, having lived and traveled a lot in many places, I understand the importance of living in a place that is beautiful, safe, and full of work and research opportunities.
However, he spends little time in the city.
Yes, because the interesting market for us is not Europe or the US. But South America, Africa and Asia are, because that's where we see the future of cryptocurrencies. Tether users don't want to be Wall Street traders sending money from one bank to another, but ordinary citizens living in emerging markets in developing countries, who can get dollars thanks to this currency, and that's what made Tether a 71 billion giant Why: 2 billion people in the world are unbanked because even $10 to open an account for them is expensive due to poverty; with Tether, they can get all the money they want for free on their phone, and No depreciation, for example in Turkey the lira lost 80% of its value in a year compared to the dollar.
In Lugano, thanks to you, the Plan B project came to fruition. How did this collaboration come about?
In fact, it all started by accident. In 2021, I attended a crypto-related event in Lugano: there I learned that the city is open to the world. I was invited as a guest and I got to know the mayor. At the time, I was working with the government of El Salvador to implement Bitcoin as legal tender, a process still in progress. With my expertise, the collaboration with Lugano and the project Plan ₿ was born.
With these premises, you can also move to Zug, the local crypto valley has grown over the years, why choose Lugano and start from scratch?
I'm very familiar with Zug, but I've noticed that 90% of businesses are just government agencies and there is no real crypto community. Of course, I often meet people from the crypto industry in Zug, but almost no one lives there. The real benefit is the tax benefits, but nothing else. However, in Lugano, the idea is to create an ecosystem where start-ups, established companies and universities can collaborate in this space. An environment of research, education and community. Not to mention the strategic location and great climate.
However, in Lugano, perhaps because it is a new thing, there is also a certain amount of hostility on the opposite side of politics. How do you judge?
I'm sorry when a technology or opportunity is used for political purposes, because it may take away opportunities for civil dissent institutions or the majority party. I understand naysayers have to be against it, but it doesn't make sense to think a technology is bad or unnecessary just because it's being advocated by a majority.
We are open to all, we never want to exclude anyone from Plan ₿, anyway, this is a project that Tether will not get any income from, because we invest capital just to do research. Also, we never let anyone invest in Bitcoin like it is possible for a trader to take Yen and say we want them to invest in Yen.
But bitcoin is not yen. It is more volatile and more prone to speculation.
Yes, but being able to accept Bitcoin doesn't mean the merchant will receive Bitcoin. With the POS machines promoted by the municipality, the conversion of Bitcoin to fiat currency will be done automatically without any risk for the merchant as he will receive the payment directly in Swiss francs. Our intention, or the city's, is certainly not to drive speculation among the citizens, but to make them aware of the world and at the same time make Lugano more attractive.
So these criticisms are pure political exploitation?
In my opinion, yes, because it certainly cannot be said that Tether has not invested heavily in emerging markets such as El Salvador, Venezuela, Argentina, Ghana, Nigeria, and many other developing countries, regardless of the return on investment. We are lucky and we believe that sometimes it is right to give back. We are doing the same thing in Lugano; I am sure that if we have the opportunity to explain to everyone and be noticed, they will understand that we are sincere. I understand people's mistrust, it's a completely natural reaction, but it seems to me their sin to take advantage of what we're doing. I realize it's still a young industry, the rules don't really exist, we're actually the first to finalize the rules, because when you don't have rules, it's hard to understand how to evolve. Because Tether, unlike Bitcoin, is not decentralized, we are forced to peg it to banking, but there are no guidelines and it is easier to make mistakes.
A topic often brought up by naysayers is that Tether is blocked on the cripto.com platform in Canada. What does this mean for the company?
Let's get one thing straight: I don't think Tether has a single customer in Canada, at most a few. Second, we are not interested in the North American and European markets. For example, it is useless to me to bring better banking intermediation to Switzerland, because there is already the best system for trading francs here, you don't need Tether. Our job is not to preach to the Pope, but to make the dollar, the most important financial instrument in the world, accessible to those who cannot access it through traditional means. So Canada, actually we don't care.
Let's continue with the choice of the commercial center, which we now know is located between Motta and Contrada Sassello: why did you choose that building and what are your plans?
Firstly, we were looking for a spacious environment that would allow us to welcome more companies wishing to establish a physical headquarters in the area (it would be able to accommodate a hundred people spread over four floors). Then we were lucky enough to find an almost unused historic building that we will have the opportunity to give back to the city. The building, which will include a restaurant in addition to offices, will require some renovation. The offices are expected to open in June, while the restaurants are expected to be operational in October.
Has anyone already expressed interest?
We have a long list of requests from Switzerland and other parts of the world, more than 15 requests, so we're going to have to make a choice, choose companies and people that can really do it, make it for the Plan ₿ and the city contribute. The idea is to provide meeting and educational venues within the commercial center as well, so future residents must be willing to contribute. We also don't want cryptocurrency speculators, but we want service builders based on the blockchain world.
So the entire business center will be completely in private hands?
Yes, the town hall has not invested a penny and does not require interior space, since it is only 50 meters away.
I believe that in one year's time, we have accomplished a lot. This year we will be re-running our summer school, bringing students from all over the world to Lugano to study the field of crypto: last year we had 86 students from 29 countries, and this summer we aim to have even more students. We're also launching the spring school, which will launch on Friday, with a greater focus on institutions and the work sector, allowing those working in finance and law to deepen these concepts through a series of evening courses. We also have more than 150 merchants who have joined the project and used our Pos machines, it is completely free for them, and finally, the second Plan ₿ Forum will be held this fall.
secondary title
The market value of USDT rose to around $75 billion, a new high since May 2022
According to CoinGecko data, the market value of the stablecoin USDT rose to around $75 billion, the highest level since May 2022. USDT’s market cap is twice that of USDC’s, and while USDC has resolved recent issues and restored its $1 peg, the aftermath of the SVB bank run suggests investors are increasingly opting for USDT.
https://decrypt.co/123708/tethers-stablecoin-market-cap-now-double-usdc-svb-chaos
