Tether is launching USAT, a compliant stablecoin for the U.S. market, in an attempt to shed its "shadow dollar" gray image and formally enter the U.S. regulatory system. This strategy advances on three fronts:

* The Political Card: Appointing former White House advisor Bo Hines as CEO of USAT, leveraging his policy experience to strengthen communication with regulators.

* The Asset Card: Partnering with Wall Street primary dealer Cantor Fitzgerald to ensure USAT reserves are primarily backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, enhancing transparency and credit.

* The Institutional Card: Entrusting the federally chartered Anchorage Digital Bank with issuance and compliance, and establishing its headquarters in Charlotte, a major U.S. financial center, embedding itself deep within the domestic financial system.

The launch of USAT marks a significant attempt by Tether to shift from an offshore shadow empire to the compliant market, directly challenging Circle's USDC and potentially reshaping the competitive landscape of the stablecoin market. However, whether it can completely whitewash its history and win the trust of the market and regulators still faces severe tests.

Summary

Writer | Peggy

The most stable asset in the crypto market is a dollar without an ID card.

Over the past decade, USDT, with $170 billion in assets and ubiquitous liquidity, has become the "de facto dollar" of the crypto world. But the more successful it becomes, the sharper its identity anxiety: a dollar without U.S. backing remains a vulnerability.

In recent years, Circle applied for a trust bank charter, Paxos built a global clearing network, and Visa and Mastercard doubled down on stablecoin settlements. In contrast, Tether remained stuck in the narrative of an "offshore shadow empire."

Caught between regulatory pressure and competitors, in September 2025, Tether, the parent company of USDT, finally presented a new answer: USAT. This is its first attempt to obtain that long-missing ID card.

Concurrently, Tether appointed 29-year-old former White House advisor Bo Hines as CEO. A decade ago, he was a star wide receiver on the Yale football team; today, he is thrust onto the most sensitive battlefield in global finance, becoming Tether's "legitimate face" in the United States.

Hines is not an outsider parachuted in. In January 2025, when the White House established the Presidential Digital Asset Advisory Committee, his name was prominently listed as an Executive Director. At just 28, he participated in advancing the legislation of the GENIUS Act, laying the cornerstone for the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework. Mere months later, he resigned from the White House and joined Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, taking on the重任 of "pioneering new territories" in the U.S. market.

For Tether, this is a strategic probe to deeply embed itself into the U.S. political and regulatory system. Hines' addition is both a chip for Tether in Washington and its first step in actively correcting its "shadow empire" image.

But this is just the beginning. What truly gives USAT the potential to shed the image of an "offshore dollar clone" is the compliant combination punch behind its design: from introducing senior U.S. political and economic resources to对接 traditional financial market institutional arrangements. Tether is attempting to use three cards to write itself into the U.S. regulatory narrative and capital market logic.

The issuance of USAT is far more than an expansion of the stablecoin map. It signifies that Tether is beginning to construct a "compliant doppelgänger" mechanism for itself: no longer satisfied with the role of a global capital channel, it aims to reshape its identity and become a compliant component within the U.S. financial order.

The Birth of a Compliant Doppelgänger: USAT's Three Cards

In recent years, stablecoins have become an increasingly important asset in financial history.

It is neither entirely the dollar nor purely a cryptocurrency, yet it has permeated every corner of the globe over the past five years. Tether, with a valuation冲击 $500 billion, has built a massive "shadow dollar" system with USDT: in Latin America, it is a lifeline for worker remittances; in Africa, it replaces local inflationary currencies; in Southeast Asia, it becomes a settlement tool for cross-border e-commerce.

However, as the largest supplier of this system, Tether has always operated in the regulatory cracks. Vague audits, complex offshore structures, and the shadows of money laundering and sanctions have labeled it a "shadow empire."

For U.S. regulators, Tether's existence is a paradox: on one hand, it promotes the globalization of the dollar; on the other hand, it is seen as a potential systemic risk. The most widely circulated "digital dollar" globally偏偏 lacks a U.S. legal ID.

This identity dislocation finally forced Tether to offer a new solution. In September 2025, it launched USAT, specifically targeting the U.S. market. This is not a simple iteration but an experiment with three cards: People, Money, and Institutions. Tether is betting these three steps on whether a shadow dollar can be accepted by the U.S. narrative.

Card One: The Person

USAT's first card is a person: Bo Hines' political endorsement.

Bo Hines, 29 years old. In college, he was the starting wide receiver for the Yale football team. An injury ended his athletic career prematurely, leading him into politics.

In 2020, he ran for a Congressional seat as a Republican candidate but was unsuccessful. After this, he entered the policy circle. Starting in 2023, Hines served on the White House Digital Asset Advisory Committee, later rising to Executive Director. According to public information, during his tenure, he participated in drafting the GENIUS Act, the nascent legislative draft for the first U.S. stablecoin regulation, which became a reference for subsequent proposals.

In August 2025, Hines left the White House. On August 19, Tether announced his appointment: Hines would join the company as a Strategic Advisor, responsible for compliance and policy communication in the U.S. market. The same announcement stated that Tether would launch a U.S.-regulated stablecoin—USAT—in the coming months.

Less than a month later, in September 2025, Tether announced the launch of USAT and formally appointed Hines as its inaugural CEO. This means he will lead the business advancement and regulatory对接 for this product in the U.S. market.

Public information indicates this is the first time Tether has introduced a senior executive with a White House background into its management. Previously, Tether's management mostly had finance or technology backgrounds, lacking direct U.S. policy experience.

Hines' involvement binds USAT to the U.S. regulatory environment from the outset.

Card Two: The Money

The second card is providing credit endorsement for Tether's money.

In the past, the composition of Tether's reserves has been controversial. Early audit documents showed USDT reserves contained significant commercial paper, short-term loans, and asset portfolios difficult to trace.

The lack of transparency surrounding these assets became the focal point of external skepticism towards Tether: Was it truly "one token, one dollar"?

In the design of USAT, Tether seeks to dispel these doubts. Announcements from September 2025 indicate that the reserve custodian for USAT is Cantor Fitzgerald. Founded in 1945, this investment bank is a primary dealer for the U.S. Treasury, long involved in underwriting and distributing U.S. government bonds, holding a solid credit position on Wall Street.

According to Tether's plan, Cantor Fitzgerald will ensure that USAT's reserve assets are primarily composed of U.S. Treasury bonds. This means USAT's value support no longer relies on complex offshore asset structures but is directly anchored in the liquidity and credit system of the U.S. Treasury market.

This arrangement binds Tether more deeply to the U.S. financial system at the asset level: shifting from a "shadow dollar" supplier to a "distributor on the Treasury bond chain." Based on public information, this is also the first time Tether has explicitly introduced a Wall Street primary dealer as a core partner in its product.

Card Three: The Institution

USAT's issuance and compliance will be executed by Anchorage Digital Bank. This is one of the first digital asset banks in the U.S. to receive a federal trust charter and one of the few compliant entities able to be directly supervised by federal regulators. Unlike USDT, which relies on offshore structures, USAT's reserve and audit processes will be incorporated into the U.S. institutional framework.

This not only complies with the regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuance outlined in the GENIUS Act but also signifies Tether's completion of an "identity registration" at the institutional level.

The geographical choice is equally telling. Tether is establishing USAT's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina – the second-largest financial center in the U.S., home to traditional financial institutions like Bank of America. Compared to New York and Washington D.C., Charlotte has a strong financial atmosphere while being relatively away from the spotlight of the regulatory center. This detail indicates that Tether is not content with changes only at the institutional design level but is attempting to "truly establish a physical presence" in its operational reality.

USAT, therefore, is not just an additional stablecoin, but a formal handshake between Tether and the U.S. market. The political card of Bo Hines, the financial card of Cantor Fitzgerald, and the institutional card of Anchorage constitute a complete compliant combination punch, pushing Tether from a "shadow dollar" supplier towards a new identity as an "institutionalized participant."

How far this transformation can go, however, remains an open question. Tether's fundamental nature has not changed: its business path remains global, its structure remains offshore, and its fund flows remain complex. USAT might bring a U.S. ID card, but it can hardly immediately rewrite the market's basic perception of Tether.

The launch of USAT signifies that Tether is extending the act of issuing a stablecoin into an identity重构: the shadow dollar is beginning to knock on Wall Street's door.

Will the Stablecoin Market Landscape Reshuffle?

In the U.S. market, Tether's new move directly targets Circle and its USDC.

In recent years, USDC has been the representative of the compliant U.S. market. But compared to USDT, USDC's size and circulation are much smaller; as of September 2025, its market capitalization is approximately $70 billion, accounting for 25–26% of the stablecoin market.

Although only one-third the size of USDT, USDC has built solid trust within U.S. political circles and Wall Street, thanks to its exclusive partnership with Coinbase and backing from institutions like BlackRock.

Circle even repurchased shares of the joint venture Center in 2024, becoming the sole issuer of USDC to further strengthen control. The implicit narrative long associated with USDC has been: U.S. compliance = safety, offshore market = risk.

Yet, it is precisely this path that has given Tether room to exert pressure.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has repeatedly emphasized that the significance of USAT lies in breaking the potential monopoly USDC could form in the U.S. market.

He stated bluntly: "Without USAT, the U.S. stablecoin market could be locked in the hands of a few institutions." In other words, USAT's strategic mission is not just a product upgrade, but a head-on market confrontation against USDC.

By launching USAT, Tether is attempting to use its massive scale to fill the "compliance gap." The significance of USAT lies in allowing Tether, for the first time, to combine scale with compliance, thereby posing a direct threat to USDC's moat.

If Circle is the top-down compliant faction, firmly planted on U.S. soil, then Tether is using USAT to construct a "dual narrative": maintaining the vast network of its "gray empire" globally while simultaneously shaping a "compliant doppelgänger" in the U.S. market.

The future stablecoin market will likely evolve into a "dual-track structure": USDT continues to maintain a strong usage base globally, especially in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, while USAT focuses on the U.S. domestic market and institutional clients. This structure can both stabilize Tether's advantage in emerging markets and attract more institutional capital at the compliance level, bringing new expansion momentum to the entire sector.

For Tether, this is more than just issuing a new coin or pursuing a listing; it is an identity transformation. Once it can list on U.S. capital markets, it can completely shed the "shadow empire" label and enter the global financial stage as a "dollar company."

However, Tether's offensive will inevitably provoke responses from competitors. Circle is likely to accelerate cooperation with regulators and institutions to further solidify USDC's compliance moat; licensed issuers like Paxos might seize the opportunity to expand their布局 in niche markets like payments and cross-border settlements.

Traditional financial giants have also shown interest, from Visa and Mastercard to Wall Street investment banks, all exploring how to embed stablecoins into existing systems. It is foreseeable that the launch of USAT is not only the starting point of Tether's identity transformation but could also become the trigger for a new round of competition in the stablecoin track.

Can the Gray History Be Whitewashed?

The launch of USAT brings unprecedented opportunities for Tether, accompanied by new risk tests. Will the market believe that a much-questioned "shadow empire" can truly accomplish self-severing through a compliant doppelgänger?

Historical experience shows that the "whitening" of gray forces is not without precedent.

In the late 19th century, American society was普遍 distrustful of financial capital, with the House of Morgan even骂作 "financial oligarchs." Strictly speaking, Morgan didn't break the law, but in an era lacking modern regulation, its vast capital and influence were often seen as "holding public interest hostage," thus becoming the "gray force" of its time.

However, the banker John Pierpont Morgan changed his image through action: helping the government issue treasury bonds and solve fiscal crises while assisting railroad companies in restructuring debt. Over time, it transformed from a "capital oligarch" into the "nation's financial agent."

Tether's current approach of buying U.S. Treasuries and pushing a compliant stablecoin somewhat resembles Morgan's strategy back then: solving problems for the nation in exchange for a legitimate identity.

However, not all "gray giants" can successfully complete such a transition.

As the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance was almost entirely "offshore" in its early days, operating outside regulatory oversight. In recent years, it began applying for licenses in markets like France and Abu Dhabi, attempting to move towards compliance and enter the U.S. market.

But in the U.S., it encountered the toughest regulatory resistance, ultimately forcing it to scale down and tighten its operations. This precedent shows that gray giants wanting to "turn white" won't find regulators easily yielding.

This means Tether's future remains full of uncertainty. Reserve transparency, compliance execution, and interaction with regulatory agencies will become持续 scrutinized indicators in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the acceleration of competition is already becoming apparent. Circle is applying for a U.S. national trust bank charter to strengthen its compliance capabilities and further solidify its ties with regulators and institutional investors; Paxos has reported significant growth in demand for its stablecoin infrastructure and, with Mastercard, launched a "Global Dollar Network" attempting to expand the use of dollar stablecoins; and Visa is continuously expanding its support for stablecoin settlements, pushing these products into existing payment systems.

Simultaneously, Plasma is attempting to embed stablecoins directly into the underlying pipes of the global payment network, using on-chain clearing and cross-border payments as its entry point.

The stablecoin market is transitioning from early wild growth into a more intense and institutionalized phase of competition.

USAT is Tether's first attempt to submit its ID card in Washington. The real test lies not on-chain, but at the conference table: those who can leave their name on the regulatory agenda will have the qualification to define the next generation of digital dollars. Whether the shadow empire can step into the sunlight remains a crucial suspense for crypto finance.

Tether is launching USAT, a compliant stablecoin for the U.S. market, in an attempt to shed its "shadow dollar" gray image and formally enter the U.S. regulatory system. This strategy advances on three fronts:

* The Political Card: Appointing former White House advisor Bo Hines as CEO of USAT, leveraging his policy experience to strengthen communication with regulators.

* The Asset Card: Partnering with Wall Street primary dealer Cantor Fitzgerald to ensure USAT reserves are primarily backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, enhancing transparency and credit.

* The Institutional Card: Entrusting the federally chartered Anchorage Digital Bank with issuance and compliance, and establishing its headquarters in Charlotte, a major U.S. financial center, embedding itself deep within the domestic financial system.

The launch of USAT marks a significant attempt by Tether to shift from an offshore shadow empire to the compliant market, directly challenging Circle's USDC and potentially reshaping the competitive landscape of the stablecoin market. However, whether it can completely whitewash its history and win the trust of the market and regulators still faces severe tests.

Summary

Writer | Peggy

The most stable asset in the crypto market is a dollar without an ID card.

Over the past decade, USDT, with $170 billion in assets and ubiquitous liquidity, has become the "de facto dollar" of the crypto world. But the more successful it becomes, the sharper its identity anxiety: a dollar without U.S. backing remains a vulnerability.

In recent years, Circle applied for a trust bank charter, Paxos built a global clearing network, and Visa and Mastercard doubled down on stablecoin settlements. In contrast, Tether remained stuck in the narrative of an "offshore shadow empire."

Caught between regulatory pressure and competitors, in September 2025, Tether, the parent company of USDT, finally presented a new answer: USAT. This is its first attempt to obtain that long-missing ID card.

Concurrently, Tether appointed 29-year-old former White House advisor Bo Hines as CEO. A decade ago, he was a star wide receiver on the Yale football team; today, he is thrust onto the most sensitive battlefield in global finance, becoming Tether's "legitimate face" in the United States.

Hines is not an outsider parachuted in. In January 2025, when the White House established the Presidential Digital Asset Advisory Committee, his name was prominently listed as an Executive Director. At just 28, he participated in advancing the legislation of the GENIUS Act, laying the cornerstone for the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework. Mere months later, he resigned from the White House and joined Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, taking on the重任 of "pioneering new territories" in the U.S. market.

For Tether, this is a strategic probe to deeply embed itself into the U.S. political and regulatory system. Hines' addition is both a chip for Tether in Washington and its first step in actively correcting its "shadow empire" image.

But this is just the beginning. What truly gives USAT the potential to shed the image of an "offshore dollar clone" is the compliant combination punch behind its design: from introducing senior U.S. political and economic resources to对接 traditional financial market institutional arrangements. Tether is attempting to use three cards to write itself into the U.S. regulatory narrative and capital market logic.

The issuance of USAT is far more than an expansion of the stablecoin map. It signifies that Tether is beginning to construct a "compliant doppelgänger" mechanism for itself: no longer satisfied with the role of a global capital channel, it aims to reshape its identity and become a compliant component within the U.S. financial order.

The Birth of a Compliant Doppelgänger: USAT's Three Cards

In recent years, stablecoins have become an increasingly important asset in financial history.

It is neither entirely the dollar nor purely a cryptocurrency, yet it has permeated every corner of the globe over the past five years. Tether, with a valuation冲击 $500 billion, has built a massive "shadow dollar" system with USDT: in Latin America, it is a lifeline for worker remittances; in Africa, it replaces local inflationary currencies; in Southeast Asia, it becomes a settlement tool for cross-border e-commerce.

However, as the largest supplier of this system, Tether has always operated in the regulatory cracks. Vague audits, complex offshore structures, and the shadows of money laundering and sanctions have labeled it a "shadow empire."

For U.S. regulators, Tether's existence is a paradox: on one hand, it promotes the globalization of the dollar; on the other hand, it is seen as a potential systemic risk. The most widely circulated "digital dollar" globally偏偏 lacks a U.S. legal ID.

This identity dislocation finally forced Tether to offer a new solution. In September 2025, it launched USAT, specifically targeting the U.S. market. This is not a simple iteration but an experiment with three cards: People, Money, and Institutions. Tether is betting these three steps on whether a shadow dollar can be accepted by the U.S. narrative.

Card One: The Person

USAT's first card is a person: Bo Hines' political endorsement.

Bo Hines, 29 years old. In college, he was the starting wide receiver for the Yale football team. An injury ended his athletic career prematurely, leading him into politics.

In 2020, he ran for a Congressional seat as a Republican candidate but was unsuccessful. After this, he entered the policy circle. Starting in 2023, Hines served on the White House Digital Asset Advisory Committee, later rising to Executive Director. According to public information, during his tenure, he participated in drafting the GENIUS Act, the nascent legislative draft for the first U.S. stablecoin regulation, which became a reference for subsequent proposals.

In August 2025, Hines left the White House. On August 19, Tether announced his appointment: Hines would join the company as a Strategic Advisor, responsible for compliance and policy communication in the U.S. market. The same announcement stated that Tether would launch a U.S.-regulated stablecoin—USAT—in the coming months.

Less than a month later, in September 2025, Tether announced the launch of USAT and formally appointed Hines as its inaugural CEO. This means he will lead the business advancement and regulatory对接 for this product in the U.S. market.

Public information indicates this is the first time Tether has introduced a senior executive with a White House background into its management. Previously, Tether's management mostly had finance or technology backgrounds, lacking direct U.S. policy experience.

Hines' involvement binds USAT to the U.S. regulatory environment from the outset.

Card Two: The Money

The second card is providing credit endorsement for Tether's money.

In the past, the composition of Tether's reserves has been controversial. Early audit documents showed USDT reserves contained significant commercial paper, short-term loans, and asset portfolios difficult to trace.

The lack of transparency surrounding these assets became the focal point of external skepticism towards Tether: Was it truly "one token, one dollar"?

In the design of USAT, Tether seeks to dispel these doubts. Announcements from September 2025 indicate that the reserve custodian for USAT is Cantor Fitzgerald. Founded in 1945, this investment bank is a primary dealer for the U.S. Treasury, long involved in underwriting and distributing U.S. government bonds, holding a solid credit position on Wall Street.

According to Tether's plan, Cantor Fitzgerald will ensure that USAT's reserve assets are primarily composed of U.S. Treasury bonds. This means USAT's value support no longer relies on complex offshore asset structures but is directly anchored in the liquidity and credit system of the U.S. Treasury market.

This arrangement binds Tether more deeply to the U.S. financial system at the asset level: shifting from a "shadow dollar" supplier to a "distributor on the Treasury bond chain." Based on public information, this is also the first time Tether has explicitly introduced a Wall Street primary dealer as a core partner in its product.

Card Three: The Institution

USAT's issuance and compliance will be executed by Anchorage Digital Bank. This is one of the first digital asset banks in the U.S. to receive a federal trust charter and one of the few compliant entities able to be directly supervised by federal regulators. Unlike USDT, which relies on offshore structures, USAT's reserve and audit processes will be incorporated into the U.S. institutional framework.

This not only complies with the regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuance outlined in the GENIUS Act but also signifies Tether's completion of an "identity registration" at the institutional level.

The geographical choice is equally telling. Tether is establishing USAT's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina – the second-largest financial center in the U.S., home to traditional financial institutions like Bank of America. Compared to New York and Washington D.C., Charlotte has a strong financial atmosphere while being relatively away from the spotlight of the regulatory center. This detail indicates that Tether is not content with changes only at the institutional design level but is attempting to "truly establish a physical presence" in its operational reality.

USAT, therefore, is not just an additional stablecoin, but a formal handshake between Tether and the U.S. market. The political card of Bo Hines, the financial card of Cantor Fitzgerald, and the institutional card of Anchorage constitute a complete compliant combination punch, pushing Tether from a "shadow dollar" supplier towards a new identity as an "institutionalized participant."

How far this transformation can go, however, remains an open question. Tether's fundamental nature has not changed: its business path remains global, its structure remains offshore, and its fund flows remain complex. USAT might bring a U.S. ID card, but it can hardly immediately rewrite the market's basic perception of Tether.

The launch of USAT signifies that Tether is extending the act of issuing a stablecoin into an identity重构: the shadow dollar is beginning to knock on Wall Street's door.

Will the Stablecoin Market Landscape Reshuffle?

In the U.S. market, Tether's new move directly targets Circle and its USDC.

In recent years, USDC has been the representative of the compliant U.S. market. But compared to USDT, USDC's size and circulation are much smaller; as of September 2025, its market capitalization is approximately $70 billion, accounting for 25–26% of the stablecoin market.

Although only one-third the size of USDT, USDC has built solid trust within U.S. political circles and Wall Street, thanks to its exclusive partnership with Coinbase and backing from institutions like BlackRock.

Circle even repurchased shares of the joint venture Center in 2024, becoming the sole issuer of USDC to further strengthen control. The implicit narrative long associated with USDC has been: U.S. compliance = safety, offshore market = risk.

Yet, it is precisely this path that has given Tether room to exert pressure.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has repeatedly emphasized that the significance of USAT lies in breaking the potential monopoly USDC could form in the U.S. market.

He stated bluntly: "Without USAT, the U.S. stablecoin market could be locked in the hands of a few institutions." In other words, USAT's strategic mission is not just a product upgrade, but a head-on market confrontation against USDC.

By launching USAT, Tether is attempting to use its massive scale to fill the "compliance gap." The significance of USAT lies in allowing Tether, for the first time, to combine scale with compliance, thereby posing a direct threat to USDC's moat.

If Circle is the top-down compliant faction, firmly planted on U.S. soil, then Tether is using USAT to construct a "dual narrative": maintaining the vast network of its "gray empire" globally while simultaneously shaping a "compliant doppelgänger" in the U.S. market.

The future stablecoin market will likely evolve into a "dual-track structure": USDT continues to maintain a strong usage base globally, especially in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, while USAT focuses on the U.S. domestic market and institutional clients. This structure can both stabilize Tether's advantage in emerging markets and attract more institutional capital at the compliance level, bringing new expansion momentum to the entire sector.

For Tether, this is more than just issuing a new coin or pursuing a listing; it is an identity transformation. Once it can list on U.S. capital markets, it can completely shed the "shadow empire" label and enter the global financial stage as a "dollar company."

However, Tether's offensive will inevitably provoke responses from competitors. Circle is likely to accelerate cooperation with regulators and institutions to further solidify USDC's compliance moat; licensed issuers like Paxos might seize the opportunity to expand their布局 in niche markets like payments and cross-border settlements.

Traditional financial giants have also shown interest, from Visa and Mastercard to Wall Street investment banks, all exploring how to embed stablecoins into existing systems. It is foreseeable that the launch of USAT is not only the starting point of Tether's identity transformation but could also become the trigger for a new round of competition in the stablecoin track.

Can the Gray History Be Whitewashed?

The launch of USAT brings unprecedented opportunities for Tether, accompanied by new risk tests. Will the market believe that a much-questioned "shadow empire" can truly accomplish self-severing through a compliant doppelgänger?

Historical experience shows that the "whitening" of gray forces is not without precedent.

In the late 19th century, American society was普遍 distrustful of financial capital, with the House of Morgan even骂作 "financial oligarchs." Strictly speaking, Morgan didn't break the law, but in an era lacking modern regulation, its vast capital and influence were often seen as "holding public interest hostage," thus becoming the "gray force" of its time.

However, the banker John Pierpont Morgan changed his image through action: helping the government issue treasury bonds and solve fiscal crises while assisting railroad companies in restructuring debt. Over time, it transformed from a "capital oligarch" into the "nation's financial agent."

Tether's current approach of buying U.S. Treasuries and pushing a compliant stablecoin somewhat resembles Morgan's strategy back then: solving problems for the nation in exchange for a legitimate identity.

However, not all "gray giants" can successfully complete such a transition.

As the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance was almost entirely "offshore" in its early days, operating outside regulatory oversight. In recent years, it began applying for licenses in markets like France and Abu Dhabi, attempting to move towards compliance and enter the U.S. market.

But in the U.S., it encountered the toughest regulatory resistance, ultimately forcing it to scale down and tighten its operations. This precedent shows that gray giants wanting to "turn white" won't find regulators easily yielding.

This means Tether's future remains full of uncertainty. Reserve transparency, compliance execution, and interaction with regulatory agencies will become持续 scrutinized indicators in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the acceleration of competition is already becoming apparent. Circle is applying for a U.S. national trust bank charter to strengthen its compliance capabilities and further solidify its ties with regulators and institutional investors; Paxos has reported significant growth in demand for its stablecoin infrastructure and, with Mastercard, launched a "Global Dollar Network" attempting to expand the use of dollar stablecoins; and Visa is continuously expanding its support for stablecoin settlements, pushing these products into existing payment systems.

Simultaneously, Plasma is attempting to embed stablecoins directly into the underlying pipes of the global payment network, using on-chain clearing and cross-border payments as its entry point.

The stablecoin market is transitioning from early wild growth into a more intense and institutionalized phase of competition.

USAT is Tether's first attempt to submit its ID card in Washington. The real test lies not on-chain, but at the conference table: those who can leave their name on the regulatory agenda will have the qualification to define the next generation of digital dollars. Whether the shadow empire can step into the sunlight remains a crucial suspense for crypto finance.