Crypto giant Tether has $187 billion in assets, big plans for U.S. expansion—and a CEO who warns the West is heading toward social collapse
Paolo Ardoino brightens at the thought of his family farm in the Italian province of Savona, not far from Genoa. Handsome and fit—he keeps weights and a gym bag in his office—Ardoino speaks at a merry, musical clip as he recalls childhood summers working on hillsides alongside his grandparents.
“We grew the best tomatoes and asparagus in my region,” he recalls. “There are violet asparagus that are very rare and insanely good, and we were growing them.” Ardoino smiles as he adds images of sage, rosemary, and olives to the recollection.
His warm, pastoral affect is unexpected, given his day job. Ardoino is the CEO of Tether, a secretive crypto firm that has become a symbol of both the growing power and the enduring…
