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Financing could start with $2 billion.
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Howard Lutnick, Trump’s proposed secretary, is CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has begun strategic talks with Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, seeking to deepen financial ties and foster a cryptocurrency-friendly ecosystem.
Transition team co-chair and Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick has taken the lead in these negotiationsBloomberg reported.
Lutnick, who is also CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is in talks with Tether to receive support in a multimillion-dollar program that plans to offer loans using bitcoin (BTC) as collateral.
The program, which will initially have 2 billion dollars, has the objective of growing to reach tens of billions, allowing the development of new businesses and attracting investment to the US market.
The proposal comes at a crucial time for the digital assets industry, which faces regulatory challenges and the need for a more favorable environment.
Tether, for its part, already maintains a strategic relationship with Cantor Fitzgerald, which acts as custodian of billions of dollars in US Treasury bonds that back the value of USDT.
This link generates Cantor significant annual revenues, estimated in tens of millions of dollars, and could be further consolidated with this new alliance.
Lutnick’s influence on the cryptocurrency ecosystem
Lutnick is a well-known proponent of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Under his leadership, Cantor Fitzgerald has actively invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the bitcoin spot price.
The company has more than $18 million in shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust of the giant BlackRock. It has also invested $4 million in shares of the ETF managed by Fidelity, $1 million in the Proshares ETF and $360,000 in the financial instrument managed by ARK Invest.
His appointment as Secretary of Commerce could open new opportunities for the cryptocurrency sector and benefit key companies like Tether.
However, the negotiations are not without controversy. Tether faces criminal investigation in the United States for alleged violations of anti-money laundering regulations and sanctions, as reported by NoticiasVE.
Despite these challenges, Tether remains the most relevant stablecoin on the market, with a capitalization of approximately $120 billion, becoming a fundamental pillar for transactions in the cryptoasset industry.
More flexible regulations on the horizon
The Trump administration has promised regulatory easing to boost the growth of the digital asset ecosystem.
For example, the Blockchain Association, which supports the Republican leader, proposes regulation of stablecoins, such as USDT, which would be key to encouraging innovation while protecting consumers.
If these negotiations succeed, The Trump Administration could mark a significant change in the relationship between the public sector and the cryptocurrency industryconsolidating the United States as a global leader in digital assets.