Tether Accelerates Global Expansion With Hiring and Investments

These plans are supported by the rising adoption of its USDT, whose market capitalization  increased to around $185 billion. The company is reinvesting profits into hiring, technology development, and strategic investments across multiple sectors while seeking regulatory footholds outside the United States. In contrast, Block, led by Jack Dorsey, is preparing to cut up to 10% of its staff as part of its ongoing restructuring. This will be its third round of layoffs in two years. 

Tether Expands Hiring and Investments

Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, is accelerating its broad global expansion. According to a report by the Financial Times, the stablecoin issuer quietly scaled its workforce to around 300 employees and plans to add roughly 150 more over the next 18 months, with a strong emphasis on engineering talent.

The hiring push forms part of Tether’s ambition to expand well beyond its original role as a stablecoin issuer. While engineers are a top priority, the company is also recruiting for specialized non-technical roles across multiple jurisdictions. Job listings show openings for AI filmmakers in Italy, venture associates in the United Arab Emirates, and regulatory specialists in Ghana and Brazil.

This growth has been fueled by the continued rise in USDT adoption. Tether’s flagship stablecoin saw its market capitalization climb to approximately $185 billion, up from around $140 billion a year earlier. The expansion in supply translated into rising profits, giving Tether more financial flexibility to pursue long-term investments and infrastructure development. 

At a recent conference in San Salvador, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino outlined a sweeping vision for what he described as a “freedom tech stack,” spanning finance, communications, artificial intelligence, and energy.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino

So far, the company has deployed capital into sectors ranging from South American agriculture to European sports, including a stake in Italian football club Juventus. It also backed technology-focused ventures in robotics, satellite infrastructure, and artificial intelligence. One of its biggest bets was a roughly $775 million investment in Rumble, a YouTube alternative that last month launched a non-custodial crypto wallet integrated directly into its video streaming platform.

The expansion comes at a time of intensifying competition and regulatory scrutiny. Rival stablecoin issuer Circle went public last year, increasing pressure on Tether to ramp up scale, resilience, and transparency. At the same time, regulators globally are working on stablecoin reserve practices and compliance standards. Tether also wants to establish regulatory footholds outside the United States, including within the Abu Dhabi Global Market, as it navigates a fragmented global regulatory landscape.

Block Plans New Round of Layoffs

On the other hand, the fintech group led by Jack Dorsey. Block Inc., is preparing to reduce its workforce by as much as 10% as part of its restructuring effort. The planned job cuts were reported by Bloomberg on Saturday. 

According to the report, the reductions are taking place across multiple teams and are tied to year-end performance evaluations that are expected to continue through late February. If carried out in full, the move would be the company’s third major round of layoffs in roughly two years. Block eliminated 931 roles in March of 2025 and cut around 1,000 positions earlier, in January of 2024.

Block has been reshaping its business since 2024 to more closely integrate Cash App with Square while reallocating resources toward newer initiatives. In November 2024, the company said it will prioritize Bitcoin mining activities and wind down its decentralized technology unit, TBD. Around the same time, it scaled back investments in music streaming platform Tidal and laid off staff tied to both operations. The company has also been developing an in-house AI productivity tool known as Goose.

At its investor day in November 2025, Block shared a three-year financial framework that targets mid-teens annual gross profit growth through 2028 and projected $11.98 billion in gross profit for 2026. Management also announced a $5 billion expansion of its share repurchase program, which lifted shares by about 8% at the time. 

However, earnings results have been mixed. While Block beat expectations in the second quarter with 14% year-over-year gross profit growth, it fell short in the third quarter on both revenue and adjusted earnings per share, triggering a sharp after-hours sell-off.

Block’s shares are down roughly 37% over the past year and about 13% year to date, despite a nearly 5% gain in Friday’s session that saw the stock close at $55.97. The layoffs also come during a broader wave of corporate job cuts, with US employers announcing more than 108,000 layoffs in January, the highest January total since 2009.