How to Survive a Financial Apocalypse | Paolo Ardoino

**Scott Melker** (0:00)
What if the company behind the world's largest stable coin is actually building the financial system for a future of 10 billion robots and a trillion AI agents? Today, I'm sitting down with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino to discuss the audit that answered more than a decade of criticism.

**Paolo Ardoino** (0:15)
After waiting 12 years, knowing that the company was a good company, that we had all the money that we were supposed to have, and more, actually much more, I think is a win for our industry that finally got the recognition that it deserved.

**Scott Melker** (0:29)
Why Tether could soon become one of the world's largest buyers of US treasuries.

**Paolo Ardoino** (0:33)
The ownership of US treasuries from an antagonistic country is not a great thing for the United States because you have a single decision maker that can press a button and sell hundreds of billions of dollars of US treasuries from one day to another. So we created the decentralized ownership of the US debt with 650 million people that today basically are holding some US treasuries, and they will not wake up altogether one single morning and decide to sell that debt.

**Scott Melker** (0:58)
And how Bitcoin, gold and even farmland are protecting its future.

**Paolo Ardoino** (1:02)
We call ourselves the stable company. We need to take in consideration as every single possible scenario. That's why we invest in gold and Bitcoin. And we also invest in land. It's not a game for us. It's a true mission. We need to remain a company that survived to the worst case scenario.

**Scott Melker** (1:19)
But the biggest story is what comes next. Programmable money for AI agents and technology designed to bring financial services and artificial intelligence to billions of people the existing system has left behind. Tether is becoming far more than a stable coin company. Let's go.
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You have way too many material possessions back there. Yes.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:38)
I have a boxing glove and a couple of useless shit on the shelves.

**Scott Melker** (2:45)
A boxing glove for punching the wall through the bear market out of boredom. I tried to find something to do. But I was joking. As boring as crypto has been for most people, it has not been for you.
I mean, this has been a banner year. Maybe we can start with the audit. You have the KPMG audit.
You came out swinging with gladiator meme. Are you not entertained? All those years, and I can proudly say that I believed you were fully backed for all those years. We've had a lot of conversations. That had to feel good to put that out there.

**Paolo Ardoino** (3:24)
Yeah. I think after waiting 12 years, knowing that the company was a good company, that we had all the money that we were supposed to have and more, actually much more.
And look, it's also, it's not, you said it, it's not just about myself or the great team. I mean, our team has been incredible in making this happen. We are also very thankful to KPMG US, of course. But all the people like you and many others that supported us throughout the FAD, I think is a win for the entire industry. It's a win for our industry that finally got the recognition that he deserved.
You know, we went through an administration in the United States, the previous administration, that was very anti-crypto that also made almost impossible for auditors to sit down at the table with companies like us and look at and just look at our balance. I mean, our balance is not difficult. Like our balance sheet is not difficult. It's like Treasuries, gold, a bit of Bitcoin and basically. And in access, we have equity in access of the liabilities. Liabilities are all the token issue. Then we have plenty more reserves inside our company compared to all the issued tokens. And so it was never about the complexity of the audit. It was about the right environment that was understanding how crypto and digital assets are such an important tool for the future of finance. And that's why we are grateful to KPMG. We're grateful to the administration that made this possible. And our team led by our entire finance team and the entire team of Tether worked very hard with top priority to achieve this moment and this milestone.