The kill-or-be-killed fight for crypto’s future
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Giancarlo Devasini, one of the world’s newest billionaires, leads a reclusive life in this Alpine town. He stays in a modest apartment by the lake, strolls the cobbled streets with a black hoodie pulled over his head—and rages about the American rival he believes is trying to kill his business.
Devasini is the main owner of Tether, whose eponymous digital dollar is an indispensable part of the cryptocurrency industry. Tether’s centrality has earned Devasini tremendous wealth and vast influence over the sector, and the support of a top ally of President Trump. Critics say Tether has become the tool of choice for criminal groups to spirit money around the globe.
Out to disrupt his business empire is Devasini’s almost perfect foil, Jeremy Allaire, founder of Tether’s archrival, Circle, which issues its own so-called stablecoin, called USD Coin, or USDC. Allaire, a suit-wearing executive as comfortable in Davos as he is on Wall Street or the halls of Congress, is running a campaign to regulate Tether out of existence. Devasini has told business associates that Circle is bad-mouthing Tether to politicians and whipping up enforcement actions against his company.
They said that in his view, Circle wants to turn the industry into just another regulated corner of finance, while Devasini wants crypto to stay true to its swashbuckling, antiestablishment roots. Tether chief Giancarlo Devasini in Milan in 2014. “Circle will not win if Tether is alive," Devasini told an associate several months ago.
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