Tech-focused investment companies SoftBank and Ark Invest are among the firms in early stage talks to invest in Tether, issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT (USDT), Bloomberg reported on Friday. The report follows this week's news about Tether looking to raise up to $20 billion in a fundraising round that would value the firm at around $500 billion, which would make it one of the world's most valuable private companies. The fundraising and the hefty valuation underscores the red-hot stablecoin trend, a fast-growing crypto sector with a potential to disrupt global payment flows. Stablecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies with prices tied to fiat money like the U.S. dollar, and could offer a cheaper, faster alternative for cross-border transactions using blockchain rails, proponents say. The sector has grown 40% year-to-date to $287 billion, RWA.xyz data shows, and analysts at global bank Citi project stablecoins will hit $4 trillion in market value in its bull market scenario. Tether's USDT is the market leader with a $173 billion market capitalization, predominantly backed by U.S. Treasuries that has provided a windfall of profits from bond yields over the past years. The company reported $4.9 billion in profits in the second quarter of this year. Circle (CRCL), issuer of the second-largest stablecoin USDC of over $70 billion, went public this June and saw its stock price skyrocket to $300 from around $30, underscoring the investor appetite to gain exposure to the stablecoin theme. Tether, which has focused on serving emerging markets with limited U.S. dollar access, announced earlier this month it intended to formally enter the U.S. market with a dollar token dubbed USAT, designed to meet the requirements of the GENIUS Act, the nation's first federal crypto law which sett rules for stablecoins. It also poached Bo Hines, former director of the White House Crypto Council advising President Donald Trump on crypto policies, to lead its U.S. division. Read more: Stablecoin Market Could Reach $4 Trillion by 2030, Citi Says in Revised Forecast
