Tether backs Ualá with US$20M to expand in South America
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- Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer by market capitalisation, has invested US$20 million in Argentine digital bank Ualá as part of a broader push to expand its presence across South America.
- The investment forms part of Ualá's US$197 million funding round announced in March 2026, led by Allianz X, the venture capital arm of Allianz, which valued the digital bank at US$3.2 billion post-money.
- At that valuation, Tether's US$20 million contribution represents an approximately 0.6% stake in Ualá, which serves more than 11 million customers across Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia with products including bank accounts, payment cards, loans, and investment services.
"Current regulations in Argentina and Mexico have hindered recent plans to integrate USDT, and Tether is participating in the round solely as a financial investor,"
Ualá chief executive Pierpaolo Barbieri said.
The Ualá investment adds to a series of recent South American commitments by Tether, which in April 2026 led a US$14 million funding round for Argentine payment wallet Belo and earlier in July 2026 invested US$20 million in Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin.
Tether also holds approximately 70% of shares in Adecoagro, an agricultural and energy producer operating across Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, reflecting the depth of its regional investment strategy.
Tether funds these strategic investments using excess capital generated from returns on the reserve assets backing its USDT stablecoin.
USDT currently has a circulating supply of US$184 billion, with Tether reporting a net profit of US$1.04 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
The South American investment strategy reflects Tether's broader ambition to embed its financial infrastructure and capital across emerging markets with high rates of digital asset and mobile banking adoption.