Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has invested $100 million to acquire a 9.8% stake in Latin American agricultural giant Adeccoagro, its first investment in the agriculture and food sector.
Tether has previously made strategic investments in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, peer-to-peer platforms, bitcoin (BTC) mining operations, and digital education initiatives, the company said in a filing.
Filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Source: sec.gov
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Tether used its operating funds for investments.
In its filing, Tether said it “used cash from its own working capital” to invest in Adecoagro. Tether currently owns 10,048,249 shares of Adecoagro, representing 9.8% of the “common stock outstanding.”
Founded in 2002, Adecoagro is Argentina’s leading milk producer, with a daily processing capacity of 550,000 liters at its Buenos Aires plant, according to its website. The company entered the sugar, ethanol and energy businesses in Brazil in 2005.
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USDT, Competition in the Stablecoin Market Expected to Intensify
Tether’s USDT (USDT) is the largest stablecoin with a market cap of over $118 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Tether recently announced plans to launch a new stablecoin pegged to the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED).
The new stablecoin is being launched in partnership with UAE-based Phoenix Group and Green Acorn Investments, a collaboration that aims to create a digital version of the Dirham currency that is “fully backed by liquid UAE-based reserves.”
USDT financial information. Source: CoinMarketCap
However, competition in the stablecoin market is intensifying with the emergence of new players such as PayPal’s US dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD, which has already surpassed $1 billion in total market cap.
Ripple Labs also announced the first tests of Ripple Labs’ Ripple USD (RLUSD), a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet, with plans to launch fiat-backed tokens on more blockchain networks in the future.
On August 26, the market cap of stablecoins excluding algorithms hit a record $168 billion. The market reached an all-time high of $167 billion in March 2022, but fell to $135 billion by the end of that year.
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