Tether's relocation to El Salvador represents a "vote of confidence" in the Central American nation's potential to become a "preeminent financial centre", according to Paolo Ardoino, the stablecoin issuer's chief executive.

In an interview with Bloomberg Línea, Ardoino said the move aligns with "the collective dedication of the entire group – Tether, Bitfinex and all subsidiaries – to providing reliable, accessible and transparent financial solutions" to their global user base.

Tether, which manages more than $137bn in assets backing the world's most widely used stablecoin USDT, has secured a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) licence in El Salvador. Tether maintains that the vast majority of its stablecoin is backed by traditional currency reserves held with Wall Street brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald.

A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency where the value of the digital asset is pegged to a reference asset, which is either fiat money, exchange-traded commodities (such as precious metals or industrial metals), or another cryptocurrency.

"We have long been excited about El Salvador's growth story," Ardoino said. "We believe El Salvador is on the cusp of a new wave of growth and is well-positioned to become the preeminent financial centre in Latin America."

The company, which was previously registered in the British Virgin Islands, ruled out the United States and European Union for its headquarters, citing licensing constraints.

The relocation, announced last month, comes despite data suggesting limited cryptocurrency adoption among ordinary Salvadorans. A survey by the Central American University found that 92 per cent of Salvadorans did not use Bitcoin for transactions in 2024, despite the country being the first globally to adopt it as legal tender in 2021.

On the impact of Donald Trump's return to power, Ardoino said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the effect of the new administration on the regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. While acknowledging uncertainty, he noted that the US "is working positively to embrace digital assets".

The Italian-born entrepreneur praised El Salvador's regulatory approach, as the country "specifically excludes digital assets from securities laws", creating clarity around digital asset classification that contrasts with more complex regulatory frameworks elsewhere.

Looking ahead, Ardoino predicted that tokenisation – the process of representing physical, financial or intellectual assets digitally on blockchain – will become "the core of global finance" within a decade.

Tether’s CEO cited the potential for tokenisation to address "the primary barrier to efficient funding for businesses and investors in Latin America”: lack of liquidity. According to Ardoino, tokenised securities offer issuers cost-effective access to global liquidity while giving investors "greater flexibility and freedom".

Regarding further Latin American expansion, Ardoino revealed that Brazil "has great potential", though the company is not currently seeking additional regulatory licences as their existing permits enable them to accept investors and issuers from anywhere in the world.

Despite cryptocurrency's slow adoption in El Salvador, Ardoino expressed confidence in the country's environment for ecosystem development. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele recently claimed that 2025 will be very important for Bitcoin and the entire crypto ecosystem due to "Trump's assumption [of power] and the maturation of ETFs."

However, El Salvador has recently scaled back its ambitious crypto experiment, marking a significant reversal of Bukele’s trademark vision to transform the small Central American nation into a bitcoin paradise.

Last month, the country's Congress approved sweeping reforms that eliminated the mandatory acceptance of bitcoin as legal tender – a key requirement for securing a vital $1.4bn credit line from the IMF.

In 2021, El Salvador made history by adopting bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation in the world to integrate the cryptocurrency into its economy.