Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, released its financial report for the second quarter of 2024, showing that its net profit in the first half of this year reached a staggering $5.2 billion, a record high. This outstanding performance not only highlights Tether's strong strength in the field of digital currency, but also arouses further market attention to its business model and regulatory issues.

According to the report, Tether achieved an operating net profit of $1.3 billion in the second quarter, continuing its profit growth momentum. Looking back at last year, Tether's annual net profit was as high as $6.2 billion, far exceeding the profit levels of traditional financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. What is remarkable is that this company with only about 100 employees has an average net profit of $62 million for its employees, a figure that is undoubtedly far beyond the reach of traditional financial giants.

While Tether wallets are making a lot of money, its stablecoin USDT is also facing a lot of controversy. As a digital currency pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, USDT plays an increasingly important role in the global financial system. However, media such as The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the unregulated nature of USDT and its large trading volume are posing a challenge to the global sanctions system. In particular, in regions such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia, USDT is used as a tool for cross-border fund transfers, which has aroused the concerns of regulators.

In its stablecoin stability assessment last year, S&P Global Ratings rated USDT at Level 4, just one step away from the most dangerous level. S&P analysts believe that USDT's reserve transparency is insufficient and it is not currently subject to explicit supervision by any authority, all of which pose a potential threat to its stability. Although Tether has stated that it will strengthen transparency and actively cooperate with regulators to conduct compliance operations, market concerns about USDT have not been completely eliminated.

Tether has made a series of progress in recent days in strengthening transparency and combating illegal activities. The company hired former Chainalysis chief economist Philip Gradwell to improve its transparency level and provide USDT usage reports to US regulators and investors. In addition, Tether also announced a partnership with Tron to establish a financial crime department to identify and freeze illegal USDT transactions on the Tron network. These measures will undoubtedly help boost market confidence in USDT and lay the foundation for its future compliance development.

Tether has achieved impressive results in the first half of the year, but the regulatory issues and transparency challenges that come with it cannot be ignored. As the world's leading stablecoin issuer, Tether needs to actively respond to regulatory pressure and strengthen transparency while maintaining profitable growth to ensure the sustainability of its business model and the steady improvement of its market reputation.