Paolo Ardoino
Paolo Ardoino is an Italian software engineer and executive who has been chief executive of Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, since December 2023, while remaining chief technology officer of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. He joined Bitfinex in 2014, became Tether’s chief technology officer in 2017 and has been chief strategy officer of the peer-to-peer app developer HolepunchHolepunchHolepunch is a peer-to-peer app development company and platform launched in July 2022 by Tether, Bitfinex and Hypercore. Its chief executive is Mathias Buus Madsen, and Paolo Ardoino is a co-founder and its chief strategy officer. Its first app was the encrypted video-calling software Keet, and in February 2024 it released the open-source peer-to-peer app development platform Pear Runtime.Open the full entry since 2022.
Contents7 sections
Key facts
2008–2013Studies and Early Career
He graduated in computer science from the University of Genoa in 2008 and then worked as a researcher on a military project on high-availability networks and cryptography. In 2010 he moved into financial applications, and in late 2013 he founded his first startup, serving as its chief technology officer.[1]
He became interested in Bitcoin after reading the Bitcoin white paper in 2012. He ran a fintech startup in London, which he shut down before joining Bitfinex.[2]
2014–2017Technology Chief at Bitfinex and Tether
He joined Bitfinex in 2014 as a senior software developer, became the exchange’s chief technology officer in 2015 and has also been Tether’s chief technology officer since 2017.[3]
Giancarlo Devasini had approached him to help Bitfinex cope with a flood of new customers, and the two developed a mentor–protégé relationship.[4]
2022Chief Strategy Officer of Holepunch
In 2022 he was appointed chief strategy officer of Holepunch, a platform for building peer-to-peer applications.[3]
2023Becoming Tether’s Chief Executive
On October 13, 2023, Tether announced that Ardoino, its long-time chief technology officer, would become chief executive in December, succeeding Jean-Louis van der Velde, who moved to an advisory role; Ardoino remained Bitfinex’s chief technology officer. In August that year he had formally unveiled Tether Energy, aimed at building renewable energy and Bitcoin mining sites.[5]
In the new role he also took charge of the company’s finances and directly supervised research and development. He said he hoped to publish reserve data in real time within a year; Tether later said there was no firm deadline.[2]
Public Role as Tether’s Spokesman
For years he served as Tether’s public face at conferences and in public statements, wrote press releases answering what he called “FUD” and publicly disputed critics of Tether’s reserves. After the collapse of TerraUSD in May 2022, he answered investors worried about USDT’s peg with “let them come.”[6]
Family and Views
His wife, Claudia Lagorio, is Tether’s chief operating officer. He names Isaac Asimov as the figure who most inspires him and cites El Salvador’s president Nayib BukeleNayib BukeleNayib Bukele (born July 24, 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessperson who has served as president since 2019, after mayoral terms in Nuevo Cuscatlán and San Salvador. His presidency is associated with an anti-gang crackdown, Bitcoin initiatives and political institutional changes. Security gains have accompanied controversies over human rights, judicial independence and reelection rules.Open the full entry as a model of leadership.[4]
Sources
- SPEAKER’S PROFILE (opens in a new window)
- Tether’s Frontman Inherits Crypto’s $84 Billion Behemoth (opens in a new window)
- The Cointelegraph Top 100 2023 (opens in a new window)
- 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 (opens in a new window)
- Tether promotes Paolo Ardoino to CEO role (opens in a new window)
- Tether CEO Steps Down, Naming Paolo Ardoino as Successor at Stablecoin Issuer (opens in a new window)