Tether CEO Paolo Arduino (interview)

Will Tether be announced soon? What plans does the new CEO have for the company? What is keet io? Why is Bitcoin Lightning Network the best BTC payment solution? These and many other questions were answered by Paolo Arduino, the new CEO of the company behind the world's largest cryptocurrency, in a recent interview with CryptoPotato.

Additionally, he talked about another project of his – keet io, which is a peer-to-peer web conferencing tool.

Last but not least, Arduino gives his two cents about BTC's current rally, the halving, and finally whether or not there is room for a Bitcoin ETF in the US.

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Changes in Tether

In Arduino's first interview with CryptoPotato two years ago, the then-CTO dismissed claims that the company was interested in going public, similar to other US-based digital asset firms such as Coinbase, which had done so in the past. Bull market.

Since then, a lot has changed in Tether, considering that Arduino took the main executive position in the company in October of this year. Asked whether the company has changed its tune on going public, the new CEO now says:

“As I mentioned earlier, Tether does not plan to go public. Our focus is on our mission to serve a diverse range of clients globally, particularly those in emerging markets. We believe our efforts should be focused on delivering value to our customers rather than chasing short-term profits for our shareholders.

Speaking about his new role and responsibilities, he expressed his commitment to “transform Tether into a technology-oriented company”, the main goal of which is the development of the real-world ecosystem in several key areas. This goes beyond stablecoins to areas such as communications, data, AI, renewable energy and bitcoin mining.

He explained that his decision to take the leadership role at Tether was “strategic,” before adding:

“We are leveraging our dominant position in the stablecoin industry to pursue areas of focus such as peer-to-peer connectivity, renewable energy, immutable data storage and bitcoin mining. Given my involvement in leading Tether's expansion strategy over the past two years, this transition was a natural progression.” .

Bitcoin ETF in the States?

Two of the most talked about upcoming events in the crypto industry for 2024 are the Bitcoin halving and the potential approval of the first place BTC ETF in the States. Arduino weighed in on the matter, highlighting the positive impact of the halving on the overall ecosystem:

“In 2024, the upcoming Bitcoin halving event is set to enhance the network's resilience, a cornerstone of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Historical data from past halvings shows a consistent pattern: each halving has resulted in a significant increase in Bitcoin's price.

As for future price increases after the event, Tether's CEO added that such moves in the past were “designed for scarcity.” Most importantly, BTC block rewards will be halved after each event, and the pre-planned inflation will be reduced.

Arduino believes that the upcoming fourth half decline will help BTC in terms of global adoption as BTC increases in media coverage and growing interest from institutions, and will strengthen the cryptocurrency “as a major asset class in the broader financial landscape.”

However, he cautioned investors to do their own comprehensive research before allocating any funds to investment properties.

In terms of the widely anticipated ETF, Arduino said:

“I believe the prospects for the SEC approving the Bitcoin ETF space are promising. The increasing interest in Bitcoin from institutional investors, as well as the recent surge in Tether supply, shows the market's readiness for this development. The approval of the Bitcoin ETF could further encourage institutional adoption and increase in the crypto space.” It can bring more legitimacy.

The role of Kate Io

In addition to his prominent role at Tether, Arduino is the co-founder and CSO of keet io. He describes the project as “a P2P web conferencing tool that aims to redefine digital communications.”

It's an alternative to Zoom, but it works as a decentralized, censorship-resistant, and user-friendly platform.

“Keet.io is embedded with Holepunch, a platform for building applications, with support from Tether. Our technology is based on Holepunch, which enables the creation of distributed networks. These networks eliminate single points of failure while giving individuals ownership over their data and communications. It represents a significant shift in attitude as concerns over censorship of central services grow.

Keet io plans to launch a free and open source platform on February 14 this year, which will “allow anyone to build P2P popular apps like YouTube or Uber for people to use.”

The project already includes a few payment features like USDT and Bitcoin Lightning. Keet io explains why:

First, Bitcoin Lightning offers a great advantage in terms of transaction speed. The Lightning Network is the best measurement platform available for Bitcoin payments and provides a real-time user experience ideal for the real-time communication app Keet. Secondly, Bitcoin Lightning also offers cost efficiency. Traditional on-chain transactions can sometimes involve high fees, which can be a deterrent for users. By using the Lightning Network, we can reduce these costs, making it more attractive to our users. Finally, the use of Bitcoin Lightning is consistent with our commitment to promote decentralization. Keet.io is built on peer-to-peer technology principles with a focus on user empowerment and censorship resistance. Bitcoin Lightning, being a peer-to-peer network itself, fits our ethos.