%Cryptocurrency %Stablecoin %Tether has promoted its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective immediately.
Analysts said the move was a surprise for one of the world’s main stablecoins. A stablecoin is a digital coin or token whose value is pegged to another asset, typically the U.S. dollar or the price of gold bullion.
Tether issues a stablecoin, also called Tether, that maintains a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar and is widely used in crypto-to-crypto trading around the world.
Current Tether CEO, Jean-Louis van der Velde, is transitioning to an advisory role, said the organization in a written statement.
There is currently more than $80 billion worth of Tether in circulation, making it the third-biggest cryptocurrency after %Bitcoin ($BTC) and %Ethereum ($ETH), according to data from CoinGecko.
During his time as CTO at Tether, Ardoino acted as the public face of Tether, posting on social media and conducting media interviews.
Ardoino had previously served as Tether’s CTO since 2017.