Tether Could Be Closest Crypto to Rival OpenAI’s $500 Billion Valuation, Estimates Suggest

Tether valuation could rival OpenAI’s $500 billion market cap if it listed publicly; one estimate values a public Tether at about $515 ￰0￱ Ardoino says that figure is “a bit bearish” given Tether’s Bitcoin and gold treasury, and the issuer currently has no plans to ￰1￱ valuation estimate: ~$515 billion if public, per Artemis CEO Jon ￰2￱ CEO Paolo Ardoino calls that estimate “a bit bearish” while noting substantial Bitcoin and gold ￰3￱ 70% of stablecoin transactions in Q3 2025 were linked to bot activity, highlighting AI-stablecoin synergies (CEX. io Research). Tether valuation: Could Tether rival OpenAI’s $500B? Read expert reaction, market-cap comparisons, and implications for AI and ￰4￱ does OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation mean for crypto companies?

OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation —driven by a $6.6 billion secondary sale by current and former employees to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and ￰5￱ Price—reframes market ￰6￱ highlights the scale gap between top AI startups and the largest crypto firms, while accelerating talk of AI and blockchain ￰7￱ close is Tether to matching OpenAI’s market cap? At present, public market capitalizations place major crypto firms well below OpenAI’s ￰8￱ Finance shows Coinbase around $89 ￰9￱ commentary now points to stablecoins—specifically Tether—as the closest private candidate to challenge a $500 billion benchmark if it were ￰10￱ estimate from Artemis’s CEO Jon Ma put a potential Tether IPO valuation at about $515 ￰11￱ Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, called $515 billion “a beautiful number” but “a bit bearish,” citing Tether’s Bitcoin and gold treasury and stating there is no need to go ￰12￱ are AI and stablecoins becoming interconnected?

AI and stablecoins are converging as both underpin next-generation digital ￰13￱ Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said AI agents will be the biggest users of ￰14￱ firm ￰15￱ Research reported that over 70% of stablecoin transactions in Q3 2025 were linked to bot activity, suggesting programmatic demand for stable-value rails.) increases short-term liquidity and programmatic demand, but also raises monitoring and compliance priorities for exchanges and ￰16￱ Takeaways Tether valuation momentum : A public Tether could be valued near $515B per one estimate, making it comparable to OpenAI’s $500B. AI-stablecoin synergy : AI agents and bots are already major users of stablecoins, driving transactional ￰17￱ and infrastructure impact : Rising AI compute needs and bot activity increase focus on energy, compliance, and the role of stablecoins in financial ￰18￱ OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation reframes how the market compares large private tech firms and crypto ￰19￱ valuation estimates place it within striking distance of major AI startups if it ever listed, but company leadership currently rejects the need to ￰20￱ growing overlap between AI agents and stablecoins suggests structural shifts in digital payments and infrastructure, meriting close monitoring by investors, technologists and regulators.