Stablecoin giant TEDA seeks to raise up to $20 billion at $5,000 valuation

Tether Holdings, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is in talks with investors to raise as much as $20 billion in a deal that could catapult the cryptocurrency company into one of the world's most valuable private companies, according to two people familiar with the matter. Tether hopes to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion, or about 3 percent of the company, through a private placement. Negotiations are at an early stage. Depending on the proportion of shares offered, the deal could value Tether at about $500 billion, putting it on a par with OpenAI and SpaceX. Its most direct competitor, Circle, was valued at about $30 billion on Tuesday afternoon. Tether is at the forefront of stablecoins, with its USDT token pegged to the U.S. dollar and with a market cap of $172 billion, being the largest stablecoin, while Circle's second-largest stablecoin, USDC, has a market cap of around $74 billion.