| Paolo Ardoino | |
| Birth Place: | Italy |
| Education: | University of Genoa |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Occupation: | Computer scientist |
| Known For: | Tether and Bitfinex |
Paolo Ardoino is an Italian computer scientist. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Tether, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bitfinex, and Chief Strategy Officer of Holepunch.
Ardoino began coding at the age of eight. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Genoa.
After completing his education, Ardoino worked on multiple research projects involving cybersecurity and cryptography for military applications.[1]
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 Senior Software Developer. Two years later in 2016, he transitioned to the role of CTO.[2]
In 2017, Ardoino became chief technology officer of Tether.[1] He later became the chief executive of Tether in 2023. Under Ardoino, Tether's flagship stablecoin, USDT, has grown to become the first and largest United States dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization,[3] and Bitfinex is the world's second largest exchange by number of Bitcoin held in its digital wallet.[4]
In 2022, Ardoino founded Holepunch, an open-source platform designed for building P2P products with computer scientist Mathias Buus.[5]
Under Ardoino, Tether invested approximately $2.5 billion in sustainable energy and technology sectors, while leaving reserves untouched. Tether invested $1 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure company Northern Data and $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech, an American brain implant company, taking a majority stake.[6] Ardoino directs these investments to come from Tether's profits, not its customer reserves.[7]
Under Ardoino, Tether intends to invest more than $1 billion into alternative financial infrastructure for emerging markets, artificial intelligence, and biotech through June 2025.[8]
In March 2022, Ardoino worked with Michele Foletti, the mayor of Lugano, Switzerland,[9] to accept Tether and other cryptocurrencies for municipal payments.
Under Ardoino, Tether has supported El Salvador's Volcano Energy renewable power project[10] 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.[11] [12]
Under Ardoino, Tether has collaborated with law enforcement to crack down on crypto-based scams, including a $225 million pig-butchering scam.[13]