Paolo Ardoino


Paolo Ardoino is an Italian billionaire businessman and computer scientist who has served as the chief executive officer of Tether since December 2023. He also serves as the chief technology officer of Bitfinex.

Early life and education

Ardoino was born in 1984 in Cisano sul Neva, Savona, Italy. He began coding at the age of eight. He obtained a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Genoa.

Career

After completing his education, Ardoino joined the University of Genoa as researcher, where he worked on research projects involving cybersecurity and cryptography for military applications. He left the University of Genoa in 2011.
Ardoino moved to London in 2013, where he founded Fincluster, a technology startup that built cloud-based financial service applications for fund managers and institutions across London, Milan, and Lugano.
In 2014, Ardoino joined Bitfinex as a software engineer. Two years later, in 2016, he transitioned to the role of chief technology officer.
In 2017, Ardoino became chief technology officer of Tether.
In 2022, Ardoino founded Holepunch, an open-source platform designed for building P2P products with computer scientist Mathias Buus. In March 2022, Ardoino worked with Michele Foletti, the mayor of Lugano, Switzerland, to accept Tether and other cryptocurrencies for municipal payments.
In December 2023, Ardoino was appointed as the chief executive officer of Tether. Under Ardoino, Tether's stablecoin, USDT, has grown to become the first and largest United States dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization, and Bitfinex is the world's second largest exchange by number of Bitcoin held in its digital wallet. Tether has invested approximately $2.5 billion in sustainable energy and technology sectors and about $1 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure company Northern Data and $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech, an American brain implant company, taking a majority stake. Ardoino directs these investments to come from Tether's profits, not its customer reserves. Under Ardoino, Tether has supported El Salvador's Volcano Energy renewable power project aimed at supporting the country's Bitcoin adoption, which aims to raise up to $1 billion. Ardoino has also led Tether to invest in the growth of renewable energy and sustainable Bitcoin mining in Uruguay.

2025–present

In December 2025, Tether made a $1.29 billion offer to purchase Juventus, with Ardoino pledging a 1 billion euro investment in the club itself.
Following the passage of the GENIUS Act, a landmark U.S. cryptocurrency bill, Ardoino was a guest to witness the signing of the legislation into law at the White House. Ardoino was also acknowledged by President Trump in his opening remarks.