Tether invested up to $50 million in crypto lender Ledn late last year, valuing the company at approximately $500 million, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
The previously undisclosed investment was made in November and ranged between $40 million and $50 million, the source said. When Tether initially announced a strategic stake in Ledn, it declined to provide financial details. Neither company responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Ledn operates a lending platform that allows individuals and institutions to borrow fiat currency and stablecoins against bitcoin collateral. The Cayman Islands–registered firm shifted to a bitcoin-only model last year, citing a desire to simplify its product offering and focus exclusively on BTC-backed financial services.
The investment adds to Tether’s expanding portfolio of strategic and acquisition-driven deals under Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino, who took the helm in 2023. Tether generates revenue primarily from interest earned on U.S. Treasuries held as reserves backing its USDT stablecoin, which remains the largest dollar-pegged token by market capitalization.
Beyond crypto-native investments, Tether has pushed aggressively into traditional industries. In 2025, the company acquired a controlling stake in Latin American agribusiness operator Adecoagro and purchased a minority stake in Italian football club Juventus, though its attempt to acquire a majority position was unsuccessful.
The Ledn deal also follows Tether’s continued accumulation of bitcoin as a treasury asset. The company began 2026 by adding 8,888.88 BTC to its balance sheet, a purchase worth roughly $780 million at current market prices. The move aligns with a policy introduced in 2023 that commits up to 15% of Tether’s realized quarterly operating profits to bitcoin purchases.
As Tether broadens its footprint across financial services, commodities, and digital assets, the Ledn investment further positions the stablecoin issuer as an increasingly influential capital allocator within the bitcoin-focused lending and yield sector.
FT Partners acted as financial adviser to Ledn on the transaction.
