From AI to Brain-Computer Interfaces: The Cross-Border Investment Portfolio of Stablecoin Giant Tether

Original author: KarenZ, Foresight News

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino disclosed on July 23 that "its investment portfolio has covered more than 120 companies, and this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming months and even years. These investments are all derived from Tether's own profits (2024 profit was $13.7 billion), completely isolated from USDT (and other stablecoin) reserves, and belong to the business scope of Tether Investments."

Tether Investments is a company established by Tether under the laws of the Republic of El Salvador, focusing on strategic investments in numerous fields where technology, infrastructure, and practical utility intersect. Its investment portfolio covers areas such as artificial intelligence, financial services, energy, biotechnology, education, and digital media, and holds strategic equity in industries such as commodities, remittances, sports, and entertainment, extending its reach beyond stablecoins.

Tether pointed out in its Q1 2025 report that through continuous strategic investments by Tether Investments, it has invested more than $2 billion in long-term projects in fields such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, peer-to-peer communication, and data infrastructure, committed to building a sustainable digital economy.

Tether has five major sections on its official website: Finance, Power (renewable energy mining business), Data, Edu (education), and Evo (human evolution). From the layout of these five sections, it is not difficult to see Tether's strategic betting direction.

• Tether Finance is committed to promoting financial inclusion and improving global financial accessibility in regions where banking infrastructure is scarce or missing. This is specifically reflected in stablecoins, Tether wallet development kits, asset tokenization, TradeFi, and investments.

• Tether Power focuses on the integration of renewable energy and Bitcoin mining;

• Tether Data develops AI and P2P technologies. Tether's support for projects like Holepunch and Pears.com highlights its support for peer-to-peer technology, and its investment in Northern Data will support AI research and projects.

• Tether Edu is committed to expanding access to educational tools and resources. Tether's investment in the Academy of Digital Industries in Georgia and its support for PlanB.Network are breaking down educational barriers and driving the gig economy.

• Tether Evo is dedicated to empowering humans in the inevitable evolution of the future. Tether's investment in Blackrock Neurotech is leading the development of neurotechnology, creating brain-computer interfaces, and opening new fields in communication, rehabilitation, and cognitive enhancement.

This article will summarize and introduce the 25 investment portfolios disclosed by Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

Kem

Kem was founded in 2021 as a P2P payment platform focused on the Middle East, allowing users to instantly send money to contacts via QR codes without traditional accounts or payment links, and also supports investing in gold and spending with crypto cards Kem Infinity Cards. In August 2024, Kem received a $3 million strategic investment from Tether, and at the same time, Kem integrated USDT into its platform.

Mansa

Mansa is a liquidity engine that is transforming global payments with stablecoin-based smart liquidity solutions. In February 2025, Mansa completed a $10 million seed round, with Tether leading a $3 million equity investment. The funds raised will be used to support the company's expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Twenty One Capital (XXI)

Twenty One Capital (XXI) is a Bitcoin-focused treasury company. In April 2025, Tether, SoftBank Group, and Jack Mallers jointly launched Twenty One, with the majority of Twenty One's equity held by its co-founders, Tether, and Bitfinex, while SoftBank Group holds a minority stake. According to the official website, Twenty One Capital currently holds 31,500 BTC (funded by Tether and Bitfinex).

Twenty One will also develop corporate architectures for financial products built on Bitcoin, including native lending models, capital market tools, and innovations that will replace traditional financial tools with alternatives aligned with Bitcoin in the future.

XREX Group

XREX Group has established its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore to strengthen ties with banks, credit card companies, and payment providers, focusing on blockchain-based payment solutions.

In June 2024, Tether announced a $18.75 million investment in XREX Group. XREX Group plans to use the new funds to further promote the use of USDT for cross-border payments in emerging markets and also intends to collaborate with Tether to develop regulatory technology tools to detect and prevent the illegal use of stablecoins. XREX later partnered with the Unitas Foundation to launch the dollar-pegged stablecoin XAU1, which uses Tether Gold (XAUt) for over-collateralization, providing customers with a stable alternative and an inflation hedge.

Zengo

Zengo is a crypto wallet provider that uses institutional-grade MPC (multi-party computation) solutions. In February 2025, Tether announced a strategic investment in Zengo Wallet. This investment will enable Zengo to further enhance its cross-blockchain platform capabilities, thereby seamlessly supporting Tether stablecoins. This investment will also support the development of Zengo Pro, a premium product designed to enhance user experience with features such as theft protection, legacy transfer functions, and real-time assistance.

Education / Media

Tether stated, "Tether is committed to creating a world where education has no boundaries and knowledge is within reach, breaking down barriers in the education sector and providing users with courses that are sufficient to calmly face various challenges of the digital age and firmly grasp the opportunities of the times."

Bitdeer

Bitdeer (Bit Deer) is a Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing service provider and operator. In May 2024, Bitdeer signed a subscription agreement with Tether, receiving $150 million in private financing from Tether to support Bitdeer's data center expansion and promote ASIC miner-based R&D. In March 2025, Tether increased its stake in Bitdeer. Tether and its subsidiaries Tether International, SA de CV and Tether Investments, SA de CV currently hold a total of 31,891,689 Class A ordinary shares of Bitdeer, accounting for 21.4% of the company's issued shares.

Blackrock Neurotech

Blackrock Neurotech was founded in 2008 at the University of Utah by scientists and BCI (brain-computer interface) pioneers Florian Solzbacher and Marcus Gerhardt, and quickly became a technology leader in neuroscience, neuroengineering, and neuroprosthetics. Through Blackrock Neurotech's innovative brain-computer interface technology, patients can operate mechanical arms, manipulate wheelchairs, send messages, surf the internet, and even drive cars. Blackrock Neurotech's devices have proven capable of achieving thought-to-text communication, with typing speeds of up to 90 characters per minute and direct speech encoding speeds of up to 62 words per minute.

At the end of April 2024, Tether announced a $200 million investment in Blackrock Neurotech. This investment was made through Tether's newly established venture capital division, Tether Evo, and will help Blackrock Neurotech fund the commercialization and promotion of its medical solutions and support its R&D efforts.

Holepunch

Holepunch is a platform for creating applications without any servers, jointly supported by Tether and Hypercore (a company that develops peer-to-peer, scalable, and cryptographically reliable distributed systems). Its first product is the fully encrypted video calling app Keet. Holepunch offers a series of small JavaScript modules that can be combined to create various P2P applications (from VPNs to communication tools like Keet). Holepunch's Pear is a composable peer-to-peer Runtime, development, and deployment tool.

Tether and Bitfinex provide funding for Holepunch. Paolo Ardoino previously also disclosed a preview of AI applications being developed by Tether Data, including AI translation, AI voice assistants, and AI Bitcoin wallet assistants. Tether plans to launch an open-source AI SDK platform based on Holepunch's JavaScript runtime Bare, suitable for embedded devices, various mobile phones, laptops, and server clusters. Tether Data's AI applications will focus on local operation, emphasize privacy protection, and support self-custody of data and funds.

Northern Data Group

Northern Data Group is an AI and high-performance computing service provider with businesses such as AI cloud (Taiga Cloud) and Ardent data centers. The group's expected revenue for the full year of 2025 is between €240 million and €320 million, with adjusted EBITDA expected to be between €80 million and €130 million.

In September 2023, Tether announced a strategic investment in Northern Data Group through its subsidiary Damoon. In November 2023, Northern Data received a €575 million debt financing line from Tether. In November 2024, Northern Data Group raised €214 million through the issuance of new shares (with Tether Investments subscribing to a portion of the new shares) to further invest in NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate the growth of Northern Data Group's cloud platform and expand the company's physical data center footprint in Europe and the US.

Others

Crystal Intelligence

Crystal Intelligence is a blockchain analysis company for crypto crime investigations, compliance, and risk management. In July 2025, Tether made a strategic investment in Crystal Intelligence. Both companies supported the development of Scam Alert (scam-alert.io), which can flag wallet addresses associated with scams and abusive activities in real-time.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said: "Tether firmly supports law enforcement agencies in combating illegal activities. With the latest advanced intelligence tools being developed by companies like Crystal Intelligence, Tether is enhancing its ability to assist law enforcement agencies in tracking fund flows in real-time. Tether has already assisted in freezing billions of dollars in illegal funds and supported investigations in dozens of jurisdictions. Abuse USDT, and law enforcement will find you."

Elemental Altus Royalties

Elemental Altus Royalties is a Canada-listed gold royalty company that provides investors with higher exposure to gold investments while reducing risk and having strong growth potential. In June 2025, Tether Investments acquired a 37.8% stake in Elemental Altus Royalties and has the right to acquire 51.8% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Elemental Altus Royalties.

Paolo Ardoino once said: "Tether's growing investments in gold and Bitcoin reflect the company's forward-looking strategy to build a more resilient and transparent financial system. Just as Bitcoin provides the ultimate decentralized hedge against monetary inflation, gold remains a proven store of value. By acquiring a diversified portfolio of gold royalties through Elemental Altus Royalties, Tether is strengthening support for its own ecosystem while advancing the development of Tether Gold and future commodity-backed digital assets."

Juventus Football Club

Juventus Football Club, founded in 1897, is one of the oldest clubs in Italy. Tether Investments acquired a minority stake in Juventus Football Club in February 2025 and then increased its stake to 10.12% in April, accounting for 6.18% of voting rights, hoping to integrate its digital assets, payments, and expertise in AI and biotechnology into the sports industry.