Share this article
Tether leads $8 million investment in Speed to push USDT further into everyday payments
Using the Bitcoin's Lightning Network and Tether's USDT, Speed handles $1.5 billion in annual payments and serves 1.2 million users.
Dec 16, 2025, 4:17 p.m.
What to know:
- Tether invested $8 million in Speed, a payments company that combines Bitcoin's Lightning Network with stablecoin settlement.
- Speed handles $1.5 billion in annual payments and serves 1.2 million users, using Lightning and USDT .
- The investment supports Tether's efforts to expand USDT's use cases and strengthen Bitcoin-aligned infrastructure, with CEO Paolo Ardoino highlighting the potential of Lightning and stablecoins.
Stablecoin giant Tether led an $8 million strategic investment in Speed, a payments infrastructure company that blends Bitcoin’s Lightning Network with stablecoin settlement to move money in real time.
Speed processes more than $1.5 billion in annual payment volume and serves about 1.2 million users and businesses through its wallet and merchant products, Tether said in a press release.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Speed’s system routes payments over Lightning for its quickness, while allowing settlement in USDT for users who want predictable values.
Tether said the investment supports its effort to strengthen Bitcoin-aligned financial infrastructure and expand how USDT is used outside of trading. CEO Paolo Ardoino described Speed as evidence that Lightning networks can handle real commerce when paired with a stable digital dollar.
“Crypto has lived in the world of speculation for too long," Speed CEO Niraj Patel said. "Speed is making it usable — instantly, globally, and at scale. Lightning gives us speed; stablecoins give us universal access; our infrastructure brings it all together for consumers, creators, and merchants."
The deal comes as Tether continues to use its large profits to aggressively invest across a variety of industries. Among these are a majority stake in Latin American agricultural firm Adecoagro (AGRO), a privacy-focused health app, a stake in video-sharing platform Rumble (RUM).
The company reported more than $10 billion in profit during the first nine months of the year, driven largely by interest on U.S. Treasury holdings that back USDT.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Marshall Islands launches world’s first blockchain-based UBI on Stellar blockchain
Backed by U.S. Treasuries, USDM1 marks a new model for digital public finance and universal basic income in underserved regions.
What to know:
- The Marshall Islands has launched the first on-chain universal basic income disbursement using a digitally native bond on the Stellar blockchain.
- The initiative, part of the ENRA program, replaces physical cash deliveries with digital transfers to citizens across dispersed islands.
- USDM1, a U.S. dollar-denominated bond, is fully backed by U.S. Treasury bills and distributed via a custom digital wallet app.
Top Stories
