Let me say something different, a personal opinion, for reference only!
I am Giancarlo Devasini, the one who created USDT.
I was born in 1964, in Turin, Italy. In 1990, I graduated from the University of Milan's medical school and became a plastic surgeon. However, just two years later, I decided to give up my medical career.
During that time, I realized that although the outside world might think that 'becoming a doctor' is a stable and respected choice, for me, this job lacked meaning. 'Performing cosmetic surgery on people' sometimes made me feel like it was more about catering to vanity and satisfying others' superficial desires.
What I need is a career that can truly engage my passion and bring about self-realization. Therefore, I made a significant life decision: to leave the hospital and turn to business. In 1992, I returned to Milan and founded Point-G Srl — importing computer parts from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc., and distributing them to the European market.
First entrepreneurship peak/valley
I quickly noticed that there were many niche and overlooked opportunities in the computer hardware distribution industry. Thus, in 1997, I established Solo SpA, focusing on the DRAM market, primarily purchasing 'out-of-spec' batches from large DRAM manufacturers (such as Micron and Taiwan Semiconductor), sorting/rating/reselling to achieve value reconstruction.
In the following years, I continuously expanded the business: Solo's subsidiaries include Compass Srl, Alcosto SpA, Freshbit SpA, and Acme SpA. The Solo group once had over 100 employees; fate never lets things go smoothly. In the 2007 fiscal year, the Solo group had a turnover of 12 million euros, while Solo SpA faced net losses, accumulating debts, with negative shareholders' equity of about 3.42 million euros.
Worse still, on February 14, 2008, Valentine's Day night, a severe fire broke out at the warehouse and office building in Assago, near Milan, which stored hardware and inventory, leading to the group's inability to continue operations.
In June of that year, Solo SpA was officially liquidated, and subsidiaries under the group, including Acme, Compass, and Freshbit, were also deregistered or liquidated. At that moment, my life seemed to hit rock bottom — the previously touted label of 'successful entrepreneur' felt weak in the face of reality and disaster. But it was that failure that made me reevaluate the life trajectory I wanted.
Multiple attempts, multiple failures — searching for new directions
After 2008, I first did a food delivery/organic food blog project called Delitzia. However, these efforts did not lead to a truly stable and sustainable business.
From 2008 to 2013, I founded and closed several companies covering IT, electronics, e-commerce, and real estate, but none lasted long.
During that long and turbulent exploration period, I experienced failures and accumulated rich business experience. I knew that success was never linear; it was filled with uncertainties and risks.
Serendipitously encountering Bitcoin — the gateway to a new world
In early 2012, I encountered Bitcoin for the first time. At that time, it was still an experimental digital currency, far from entering mainstream financial vision. But I was attracted by the idea behind it — a decentralized, globally circulating currency form that is not bound by traditional banking systems.
I realized that the traditional financial system had long become rigid, inefficient, and reliant on trust mechanisms. Bitcoin, with its 'decentralization and borderless' characteristics, might be able to leverage a new type of financial system in the future. For someone who once tried to reshape themselves through trade/technology/entrepreneurship, this possibility is immensely attractive.
Soon after, I met Raphael Nicolle, one of the founders of the newly revived exchange platform Bitfinex. He was then rebuilding Bitfinex from the ruins of its predecessor exchange, 'Bitcoinica.' I joined them as a partner in early 2013. My role was not only to invest but also to establish banking relationships, recruit key personnel, and assist in relocating the exchange's jurisdiction, essentially taking on the tasks of financial and structural reconstruction.
Since 2013, I have served as the Chief Financial Officer of Bitfinex, truly stepping into the world of cryptocurrencies.
Establishing Tether Limited — a bet from turmoil to 'stability'
During Bitfinex's operations, I gradually realized that one of the biggest problems with cryptocurrencies is price volatility. Although assets like Bitcoin have potential, their prices fluctuate violently, posing extremely high risks when used as payment, trading media, or store of value.
To solve this problem, I collaborated with technical expert Paolo Ardoino and co-founded Tether Limited in 2014. Our goal was to launch a 'stablecoin' — priced at 1 USDT ≈ 1 dollar, to peg to the value of the dollar, providing a 'bridge' for the crypto market, combining the convenience of digital currency with the stability of fiat currency.
This is a significant turning point for the cryptocurrency market. Tether quickly became an important trading pair on multiple exchanges, introducing massive liquidity. The issuance of USDT not only simplified the cycle of crypto → fiat → recrypto but also reduced the risks traders face due to price volatility of cryptocurrencies.
With my support in key matters like financial structure, reserve management, and banking relations, Tether's rapid rise alongside Bitfinex was also accompanied by controversy and regulatory pressure.
Especially in 2018, when a payment processor (Crypto Capital) used by Bitfinex had about 850 million dollars frozen, Bitfinex faced a serious liquidity crisis.
To cope, I chose to use Tether's reserves to inject capital into Bitfinex to maintain operations and avoid customer losses. This action raised questions from regulators and the public regarding Tether's asset reserve transparency and conflicts of interest. Critics argue that this behavior undermined the 'one-to-one peg' foundation between USDT and actual dollar reserves.
USDT faced a serious trust crisis, once falling to 5.7 dollars. That year, the issuance of USDT was only 2.6 billion. I took out one-third of the reserves to save Bitfinex, which was in itself a breach of contract and a gamble. Facing the continuously falling and decoupling USDT and the crowd rushing to withdraw, I felt dead inside, preparing to accept fate's baptism again.
As a result, heaven favored me once again. Some USDT holders chose to buy BTC with the depreciated USDT, causing BTC to soar from 6400 dollars to 7800 dollars. This wave of wealth creation quickly extinguished the fire of withdrawals. Some even rushed to buy USDT at a premium to buy BTC. Moreover, some brothers engaged in gray industries were also hoping that I would survive and not join the frantic rush of withdrawals; it turns out I was not the only one fishing in troubled waters; everyone was afraid of this muddy water.
This trading logic in the crypto market caught me off guard. Realizing this, I quickly took measures to adapt and USDT gradually returned to the right track. I can't help but sigh that the crypto market is full of talent; the brothers are massive! Promises in this industry seem not so important. Since then, I haven't disclosed operational financial conditions for two and a half years, and users seem not to care whether you have sufficient reserves; the development speed has not slowed down at all.
By 2025, the issuance of USDT reached 186 billion, and my stake in Tether was about 47%. My personal net worth is estimated to be about 22.4 billion dollars, which also made me a significant figure in the global crypto world.
Epilogue --- Risks and Responses (The epilogue is purely speculative, please do not take it personally, it's for entertainment only.)
The media frequently reports that USDT has long been questioned due to insufficient transparency of reserves, complex asset composition, and opaque capital flow, leading to multiple regulatory investigations and fines — such as the settlement payment of about 18.5 million dollars with NYAG in 2021 and a fine of about 41 million dollars from CFTC.
I don't care about any of this as long as the brothers are abundant; it’s not a problem. Looking back at the days when I carried tons of cash around the world looking for bank deposits, occasionally borrowing money from green forest heroes, and sometimes being asked to contribute by the government, that was what it meant to live in fear. Afraid of losing the brothers' margin, afraid of freezing, afraid of being hacked, and even afraid of a 5-dollar wrench; I couldn't sleep all night.
Fortunately, I found a good big brother, who told me to keep my money with him, and no one dares to touch it. Plus, there’s interest, and when I need it, he gives it to me immediately. I can print as much as I want, no, I can distribute as much as I want, the more I distribute, the more I save, and the more interest I earn. It can also relieve some pressure from big brother's debts; if managed well, it can be much better than any gold or oil system; the cost of the digital system is so low. Big brother is kind, muscular, and speaks firmly. I pondered in my heart, after years of being bullied and living in fear.
The incident in 2018 involving the misappropriation of margin also proved that whether or not my bank deposited 1:1 as a guarantee, the brothers were still supporting me. Keeping the money with big brother could still earn some interest. Thus, I joined hands with big brother, working hard for decades to finally enjoy a few years of peaceful life.
However, recently, I’ve been waking up startled from dreams. Is something going to happen?
Xiao Huiwang over there is messing up his ecosystem, causing many gray and black brothers to panic and sell off, the coin price is falling again and again. I told big brother to withdraw some money to buy back a bit to restore the peg and stabilize the brothers' hearts. Big brother not only didn’t give it but also wanted me to issue 5 billion in an emergency. Although I felt safe with big brother, I often felt guilty; I am also helpless, brothers.
The big brother acts this way, and I can't help but be cautious. Financially, after some thought, my brothers gave me 1800, the big brother saved more than 1350, the pancakes and yellow fish bought were worth more than 200, the old difficult brothers asked for support and borrowed about 200, there shouldn't be any big problems on the books.
What about competitors?
The USDC from the neighboring unit is also little brother of big brother, so it won't tear the face with me. DAI isn’t even a child yet. However, it seems that the situation on Long Ge's side has tightened recently; it seems to have figured out big brother's methods, and many brothers are from Long Ge's side. Based on Long Ge's style of doing things, if they decide to cut off, it will be a death blow. Those running big pancake mining machines are a warning. It’s troubling; what if the brothers on Long Ge's side withdraw?
The brothers over there must have about 1000 wanting to cash out, right? Should I take out the money kept with big brother? Taking out so much at once, do I need to prove the purpose of the funds? Sell the pancakes and yellow fish? I should leave some for my son. Should I ask the difficult brothers to pay back? That would be embarrassing; even if I asked, they might not pay back. That 30 million in my account is useless; it’s concerning!
Whatever, if something happens, I bet my brothers will support me again, buying low-priced U to pull the pancakes to 200,000 dollars. If it really doesn't work, I'll blacklist anyone related to gray and black industries, should be able to blacklist quite a lot, let's see if you dare to come to my big brother to appeal.
Or let big brother go through a procedure to balance the company's books. Alright, let's prepare for that! Brothers, enjoy your free time, don’t forget your original intention to earn dollars.
Thank you for watching. I am Xiaofei, nice to meet everyone. Xiaofei focuses on Ethereum contract spot ambush, and the team still has positions available; get on board quickly to become a player and a winner.
