Most Influential 2021: Paolo Ardoino

Tether’s unofficial hype man is willing to argue online with critics of the stablecoin.

(Adam B. Levine/Pixelmind.ai)
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U.S. lawmakers signaled this year that stablecoins may be a threat to financial stability and could prove to be systemically important beyond crypto. Often unnamed in official reports, tether is never far from mind. The largest stablecoin, by far, USDT has ballooned this year along with the crypto market (it’s worth $76 billion at the time of writing). Paolo Ardoino is the company’s chief technology officer, tasked with coding the stablecoin project that lives on multiple blockchains. He’s also the project’s unofficial hype man, willing to argue online with critics of the stablecoin, who raise concerns about the stablecoin’s backing.

The Complete List: CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2021

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)


ER June 2026 Image

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.

Why it matters:

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.