Key Takeaways
- Paolo Ardoino is the CEO of Tether and CTO of Bitfinex, with a degree in computer science and expertise in software and blockchain.
- Paolo co-founded Involutive in 2007 and worked at Selex Communications, Frame Asset Management, and Fincluster.
- Paolo joined Tether as CTO and later became CEO In October 2023, taking over Jean-Louis van der Velde.
Who Is Paolo Ardoino?
Paolo Ardoino is the CEO of Tether, a stablecoin always equal to the value of one U.S. dollar, and the CTO of Bitfinex, a platform for trading digital assets. He is also the Chief Strategy Officer at Holepunch and was once a Partner at Fincluster.
Paolo attended Liceo Scientifico from 1998 to 2003, earning a Bachelor of Science. He then went to the University of Genoa and graduated in 2008 with a degree in Computer Science.
Early Career and Freelance Work
Paolo Ardoino began his career in 2003 as an independent consultant in Security, Software and Web Development, and Distributed Systems Architecture.
Co-founding Involutive
In 2007, Paolo co-founded Involutive, a company he started with two friends from the Computer Science Department at the University of Genoa. At Involutive, Paolo helped design and develop WarWide, an online game like ‘Risk!’, where players can interact in real time, develop strategies, and play together.
Research and Development Roles
In 2008, Paolo worked as a Researcher/Developer for Selex Communications on a military project at the University of Genoa. By September 2009, he became a Researcher at the Department of Computer Science, where he worked on creating a Java framework and simulator for packet routing in-vehicle networks, using OpenStreetMap data for maps and graphs.
Senior Full-Stack Developer at Frame Asset
In 2010, Paolo joined Frame Asset Management as a Senior Full-Stack Developer. He led the creation of an accounting and trade management system, including features for trade reconciliation.
Becoming CTO at Fincluster
Paolo Ardoino became CTO of Fincluster in 2012. He helped raise two funding rounds and develop a web platform offering custom services and a financial application for advisors, fund managers, and institutions. The company extended to small and medium businesses in London, Milan, and Lugano.
As CTO, Paolo led the development team, built the backend, and ensured the platform’s security and scalability.
Becoming CSO at Holepunch
Holepunch is a platform for building serverless apps. Paolo Ardoino became its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) in 2020. The platform provides small JavaScript modules that can be combined to create different P2P apps, such as VPNs and communication tools.
As a part-time CSO, Paolo is responsible for planning the company’s strategy, growing the business, managing risks, and tracking its performance.
Bitfinex
Paolo began working at Bitfinex in October 2014 as a Senior Software Developer. Bitfinex is a platform for trading digital assets that serves cryptocurrency traders and liquidity providers.
In his role, Paolo’s main tasks were to give advice, plan, and redesign the backend to make it more scalable, reliable, and available. He also led the process of reviewing and adding the Alphapoint trading engine.
Joining Tether
In December 2017, Paolo Ardoino became Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Tether, the company that introduced stablecoins in 2014. As CTO, he led Tether’s stablecoin development and security teams, USDt. His main focus was ensuring the quality, security, stability, and reliability of blockchain-based solutions and integrations across different blockchains.
Appointment As Tether CEO
On October 13, 2023, Paolo was promoted to Tether’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Jean-Louis van der Velde (JL), who moved to an advisory role while continuing as CEO of Bitfinex. Paolo continues to serve as CTO at Bitfinex and Chief Strategy Officer at Holepunch.
Leadership and Challenges at Tether
As CEO of Tether, Paolo faces the challenge of keeping USDt stable while dealing with global regulations. Tether has faced concerns about its reserves and backing, and Paolo’s job is to handle these issues by focusing on managing rules and maintaining trust in Tether.
Vision For Tether and Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Paolo supports the growth of decentralized finance, where services like lending, borrowing, and trading happen on blockchain platforms without middlemen. As CEO of Tether, he believes Tether’s stablecoin, $USDT, can be important in this movement. Paolo sees a future where financial solutions are more independent, using blockchain, with Tether playing a big role in providing a stable and trusted digital asset for DeFi.
Final Thoughts
Paolo Ardoino has played an important role in the cryptocurrency industry. As CEO of Tether and CTO of Bitfinex, he helped make USDt, Tether’s stablecoin, a trusted digital asset. With his experience in software and blockchain, he has led key projects in tech and finance. Since becoming CEO of Tether in 2023, his main job has been to keep the company stable and reliable. Paolo believes in the future of decentralized finance (DeFi) and sees Tether as a key part of this new, independent financial system.
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