Paolo Ardoino

Paolo Ardoino is an Italian computer scientist. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Tether, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bitfinex, and Chief Strategy Officer of Holepunch.

Early life and education
Ardoino began coding at the age of eight. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Genoa.

Career
After completing his education, Ardoino worked on multiple research projects involving cybersecurity and cryptography for military applications.

In 2014, Ardoino joined Bitfinex as Senior Software Developer. Two years later in 2016, he transitioned to the role of CTO.

In 2017, Ardoino became chief technology officer of Tether. He later became the chief executive of Tether in 2023. Under Ardoino, Tether's flagship stablecoin, USDT, has grown to become the first and largest United States dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization, and Bitfinex is the world's second largest exchange by number of Bitcoin held in its digital wallet.

In 2022, Ardoino founded Holepunch, an open-source platform designed for building P2P products with computer scientist Mathias Buus.

Under Ardoino, Tether invested approximately $2.5 billion in sustainable energy and technology sectors, while leaving reserves untouched. Tether invested $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech, an American brain implant company, taking a majority stake.

In March 2022, Ardoino worked with Michele Foletti, the mayor of Lugano, Switzerland, to accept Tether and other cryptocurrencies for municipal payments.

Under Ardoino, Tether has supported El Salvador's Volcano Energy renewable power project aimed at supporting the country's Bitcoin adoption, which aims to raise up to $1 billion.

Ardoino has also led Tether to invest in the growth of renewable energy and sustainable Bitcoin mining in Uruguay.