'Bitcoin Love' Moves Stablecoin Lead Corporation To El Salvador

Tether Holdings, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is expected to nest in El Salvador, Central America, which advocates for a pro-crypto state.

Tether said it will move its corporate location from British Virgin Islands to El Salvador after securing qualification as a digital asset service provider in El Salvador, Reuters reported.

Tedder CEO Paolo Ardoino, who is reportedly from Italy, said the decision was aimed at "strengthening the focus and choice of emerging markets" and management also said it would set up a residence in El Salvador.

A stable coin refers to a virtual currency designed to have a fixed exchange value in U.S. dollars or euros.

Tether, which uses reserves consisting primarily of cash equivalent assets such as U.S. dollars or U.S. government debt, is considered a leader in stablecoins.

El Salvador's president, Naive Bukele, who became the first in the world to use bitcoin as a legal currency and spend the national budget to buy it under the name of "strategic bitcoin reserves," welcomed the move.

El Salvador's government holds 6,026.18 Bitcoin (worth W815.3 billion as of 12:40 p.m. local time in the capital San Salvador), with unrealized selling profits exceeding 100%.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the New York Southern District Prosecutors' Office is investigating Tether's alleged violations of international sanctions and anti-money laundering obligations.

Suspicions have been raised for years about whether Tether's stablecoins were used to support illegal activities such as drug trafficking, terrorism and hacking, or to launder funds.

Some observed that the investment company of Howard Rutnick, co-chairman of the transition team, who was named the first Secretary of Commerce for the second Trump administration, is trying to strengthen its partnership with Tether.

Rutnick, a billionaire financial asset candidate, is known to have turned U.S. President-elect Trump's attitude, which has been negative about virtual currency, into a positive direction.