Former Tether CIO Eyes Stake Sale at Stablecoin Issuer, Bloomberg

Richard Heathcote, the former chief investment officer of stablecoin issuer Tether, is reportedly looking to sell part of his stake in the company. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said Heathcote wants to liquidate only a portion of his 1.26% ownership in Tether, after stepping down from the role in March to move into an advisory position.

Tether’s continued private ownership structure makes any sale by a senior insider notable. The company behind USDt (USDT)—the largest stablecoin by market capitalization—remains privately held even as it operates at massive scale, with circulating supply of roughly $184 billion and a reported share of about 59% of the stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama data.

Key takeaways

• Bloomberg reports Richard Heathcote plans to sell only part of his 1.26% stake in Tether, after leaving his chief investment officer post in March.
• USDT remains dominant in stablecoin markets, with DefiLlama estimating around $184 billion in circulating supply and ~59% share.
• The reported sale unfolds alongside increased regulatory friction for USDT in Europe, including delistings by MiCA-authorized platforms.
• Broader capital-market ambitions continue elsewhere in crypto, with multiple exchanges weighing—but adjusting—paths toward IPOs.

Insider ownership sale spotlights Tether’s private structure

Heathcote’s reported plan offers rare visibility into Tether’s ownership. With the company privately held, there is limited public detail on how large stakeholders are positioned, how their holdings evolve, or whether any strategic shifts accompany changes in leadership and investment oversight.

Bloomberg said Heathcote exited his chief investment officer role in March to take an advisory position after overseeing Tether’s investment portfolio. His stake, at 1.26%, is large enough that even a partial sale could be meaningful—though the report characterizes the intention as selling only a portion rather than unwinding his position entirely.

For investors and market participants, the significance is twofold. First, any insider distribution can become a proxy for internal confidence or liquidity planning. Second, ownership changes at a stablecoin issuer can matter indirectly to market confidence, because USDT is central to trading pairs, liquidity provisioning, and settlement across crypto markets.

USDT’s European regulatory headwinds continue

The ownership sale report arrives as Tether navigates regulatory pressure in Europe. Cointelegraph previously reported that USDT has been delisted by an increasing number of MiCA-authorized platforms after Tether chose not to comply with the European Union’s crypto framework.

One prominent example cited in that earlier reporting was Revolut’s decision to remove USDT from its platform, announced during the month covered by the Cointelegraph update. While platform-level delistings do not necessarily change the underlying global demand for USDT overnight, they can influence where consumers can access the token and how easily it can be onboarded through mainstream channels.

That dynamic matters for Tether because stablecoin access increasingly intersects with regulated on-ramps. If distribution opportunities narrow in certain jurisdictions, issuer narratives may shift from pure growth to compliance, market structure, and risk management. The partial nature of Heathcote’s reported sale suggests, at minimum, that liquidity planning is not necessarily tied to a single near-term regulatory decision—but the timing still reinforces that Tether is operating amid heightened oversight.

Crypto IPO plans keep shifting from exchange to exchange

While Tether leadership has been publicly skeptical about the need for an IPO, other crypto businesses have continued exploring public listings—often with delays driven by changing market conditions or internal restructuring.

Cointelegraph reported that Kraken has taken steps toward a public listing. Fortune previously reported in September 2025 that Kraken raised $500 million at a $15 billion valuation, fueling expectations for an IPO. Separately, Kraken announced it had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering in November 2025.

However, Bloomberg later reported that Kraken’s IPO plans could slip until 2027 after layoffs tied to the company’s expanding use of artificial intelligence. The implication for readers is that even when IPO work is underway, execution timelines can be highly sensitive to operational priorities and cost structure.

South Korean exchange Bithumb has also faced a moving target. Cointelegraph noted in April that Bithumb said it is delaying its IPO until after 2028, citing efforts to strengthen accounting policies and internal controls following earlier regulatory setbacks.

Taken together, these updates underline a broader theme in crypto’s attempted migration to traditional capital markets: going public has become less a straightforward fundraising event and more a compliance-heavy, execution-dependent process. Even companies that proceed with filings can still experience delays as they balance governance upgrades, regulatory expectations, and internal transformation.

What to watch next for Tether and the stablecoin market

Bloomberg’s report did not specify deal timing, counterparties, or regulatory requirements tied to Heathcote’s planned partial sale. The next key question for the market is whether the transaction influences investor perceptions of Tether’s governance and long-term positioning—especially as USDT continues to face uneven access across Europe. In the meantime, stablecoin holders and traders should monitor platform delistings, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction compliance signals, and any additional transparency that may emerge around insider ownership and capital-market readiness across major crypto firms.