Tether, the global leader in the stablecoin market, has strategically committed $775 million to Rumble, a rising video-sharing platform that positions itself as a decentralized alternative to YouTube.
This major investment comes as Tether's profits have soared, surpassing $10 billion in profits this year.
Tether Seeks to Disrupt Media With Investment in Rumble
On December 20, the USDT issuer announced a $775 million strategic investment in Rumble, a Bitcoin-holding video-sharing platform and cloud services provider.
According to the statement, the offer includes an initial cash injection of $250 million for Rumble and an offer to buy up to 70 million shares at $7.50 each, for a total value of $775 million. However, Rumble Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovsky retains control of the company.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the investment reflects both companies’ commitment to decentralization, transparency, and freedom. He emphasized Rumble’s role as a trusted platform that challenges the status quo of mainstream media, which is suffering from a lack of trust.
“Tether deeply believes in the core values of free speech and financial freedom. Our strategic investment in Rumble further highlights Tether’s focus on supporting technology and companies that empower people, providing autonomy and resilience to our community,” Ardoino commented.
At the same time, Pavlovsky sees the subsidy as a tool to compete directly with YouTube. Indeed, YouTube is the dominant video-sharing platform in the world, with about 2.5 billion monthly active users as of March 2024.
“YouTube, watch out. I’m coming to take your monopoly market share, globally,” Pavlovsky declared.
Tether, known primarily for its USDT stablecoin with a market cap of around $140 billion, has significantly expanded its investment portfolio this year. The company has invested in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, Bitcoin mining, artificial intelligence and education.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Ardoino shared that Tether will end the year with a profit of over $10 billion. He also mentioned that the company has reinvested more than half of those profits to strengthen its position in the stablecoin market, including recent investments in European stablecoin projects StablR and Quantoz.
Arduino has announced plans to invest additional profits in artificial intelligence in the future. On social media platform X, the CEO stated that the company will launch its AI platform in early 2025. This initiative aims to expand Tether’s technological footprint and open up new growth opportunities in emerging markets.
“I just got the draft site for the Tether AI platform. Coming soon, targeting end of Q1 2025,” Arduino said.
