Odaily Planet Daily News Tether's market value increased by nearly 50 billion USD in 2024, with enhanced investments, product lines, and political influence across various industries. According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, Tether seems to have slowed down some lobbying activities this year, spending only 360,000 USD on FTI government affairs. This is a reduction of about 71% compared to the 1.24 million USD lobbying expenditure in 2023; spending was 480,000 USD in 2022. Tether hired a lobbying firm DMM Consulting in 2023, which also lobbied on behalf of El Salvador's Bukele government. In the same year, Tether's sister company Bitfinex Securities became the first 'digital asset service provider' in El Salvador, obtaining a license to trade tokenized securities. Meanwhile, Tether made investments in the country, including Volcano Energy, which utilizes geothermal energy for Bitcoin mining.