Tether USDt (USDT)

It is illegal in America for a stablecoin to pay you interest. The issuer takes your dollars, earns the yield, and a 2025 law bars it from passing you a cent. So on June 30th, 140 of the largest companies on earth announced a coin built to capture that yield for themselves.

Start with the prize. A stablecoin is a dollar you swap for a token. The issuer parks your dollar in Treasury bills at 4 to 5 percent and keeps the interest. Tether did this so well it cleared about 13 billion dollars in 2024, one of the highest profits per employee in business history, and now holds roughly 141 billion in US Treasuries, the 17th largest holder of US government debt on earth. It charges no fees and pays holders nothing. The float is not part of the business. It is the business.

The part that rewrites the story is the law itself. The GENIUS Act, signed July 2025, makes it unlawful for a stablecoin issuer to pay interest to the people holding the coin. But it binds only the issuer. Route the same yield to a partner or an e