Tether Hires PayPal Government Affairs Ace as U.S. Scrutiny Unresolved

• Tether’s new government-affairs chief, Jesse Spiro, is coming from PayPal and had previously handled government interactions for Chainalysis.

• CEO Paulo Ardoino says the hire reinforces the company’s “commitment to responsible innovation.”

Tether hired a government-affairs veteran from PayPal and Chainalysis, Jesse Spiro, to head its own shop as the issuer of the leading (USDT) stablecoin has long been under a cloud of reported U.S. investigations.

Spiro comes straight from PayPal, where he spent a few years as chief of regulatory relations in its blockchain and digital-currencies arm.

“Tether plays a significant role in the current and future development of the digital economy and U.S. dollar hegemony,” Spiro, who also ran government affairs at blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, said in a Friday statement. “The ever-evolving legislative and regulatory landscape will continue to require strong collaboration between the public and private sectors.”

Tether has reportedly been the subject of U.S. federal investigations, though the probes haven’t yet produced any criminal or regulatory action against the company. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has openly speculated about Tether getting hit by U.S. authorities, though Tether’s CEO pushed back on that vulnerability and further underlined the very public showing of aid the company has been giving to U.S. authorities pursuing criminals.

Meanwhile, some jurisdictions globally have begun to establish stablecoin regulation, but the U.S. has fallen behind as Congress can’t manage to make headway on legislation that has – from time to time – flirted with bipartisan support. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been at odds over the proper role of the Federal Reserve and state regulators in policing the tokens, which are meant to track a steady asset (generally the U.S. dollar) and provide stability in interactions with other more volatile elements of the crypto markets.

While U.S. legislation has made some progress in the Republican-majority House of Representatives, its fate is uncertain in the more reluctant Democrat-controlled Senate. The U.S. efforts have generally contemplated a highly regulated future for stablecoins, including some form of U.S. registration and oversight, which could be at odds with Tether’s offshore business model.

“Jesse’s appointment reinforces Tether’s commitment to responsible innovation and leadership in the digital asset space,” said CEO Paolo Ardoino, in a statement.