Tether takes stake in Whop as platform adopts WDK for stablecoin creator payouts

Tether Investments has taken a strategic stake in Whop.com, an online marketplace that facilitates approximately $3 billion in annual payouts to more than 18.4 million users across 144 countries, according to a statement shared with The Block. 

As part of the deal, Whop will integrate Tether’s Wallet Development Kit to process stablecoin payments, giving creators and users the option to settle transactions in USDT, or the recently launched USAT, a “Made in America” digital dollar. The funding will support Whop’s expansion into LATAM, Europe, and APAC, while introducing AI tools designed for agentic income opportunities, the company said Wednesday.

Per the statement, the partnership connects Whop’s global network to Tether’s infrastructure, enabling faster dollar settlement for creators in markets where traditional payment systems introduce friction and cost. Whop, which describes itself as the world’s largest internet market, said it processes gross transaction volume that is increasing roughly 25% month over month. 

Tether noted that the WDK integration also positions Whop to offer decentralized finance primitives, including lending and borrowing features, effectively establishing a self-custodial digital banking layer for its community.

“Our investment in Whop proudly reflects Tether’s focus on supporting real economic activity by providing efficient digital dollar and wallet infrastructure that can scale to billions of people, across every continent,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the statement. “By integrating Tether’s Wallet Development Kit, WDK, Whop can offer users faster global payments and more reliable financial tools, driving growth, individual, family and community self-sufficiency and financial inclusion.”

Expansion drive 

The investment comes as Tether maintains a dominant position in the stablecoin market, which has reached a total dollar-denominated supply of $293 billion. According to The Block’s data dashboard, Tether’s USDT accounts for $183 billion of that total, representing a 62.4% market share.

This scale has translated into significant liquid reserves; the company reported that its U.S. Treasury holdings reached a record $122 billion in 2025. During that fiscal year, Tether recorded its second-largest annual issuance in history, adding more than $50 billion in new USDT to the circulating supply.

Financial attestations from independent accounting firm BDO indicate that Tether generated more than $10 billion in net profit for the 2025 fiscal year. While this figure is a decrease from the $13 billion reported in 2024, the company’s excess reserves grew to $6.3 billion, with total assets backing USDT rising to $193 billion.

These profits have funded an aggressive expansion of Tether’s operational footprint; the company plans to increase its workforce by 150 employees over the next 18 months, bringing its total headcount to approximately 450, the Financial Times reported in early February.

Earlier this month, Tether invested in LayerZero Labs, the interoperability firm behind the technology used for USDT0, Tether’s omnichain stablecoin. That followed an investment in Dreamcash, a mobile frontend for the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange, supporting the launch of USDT0-collateralized perpetual markets for assets including Tesla, Nvidia, gold, and the S&P 500 index.

Tether has also deepened its metals exposure, investing $150 million in Gold.com, a direct-to-consumer marketplace, as part of broader efforts to anchor its digital assets with physical reserves. 

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