coindesk.com
Stablecoin giant Tether led an $8 million strategic investment in Speed, a payments infrastructure company that blends Bitcoin’s Lightning Network with stablecoin settlement to move money in real time.
Speed processes more than $1.5 billion in annual payment volume and serves about 1.2 million users and businesses through its wallet and merchant products, Tether said in a press release.
Speed’s system routes payments over Lightning for its quickness, while allowing settlement in $USDT for users who want predictable values.
Tether said the investment supports its effort to strengthen Bitcoin-aligned financial infrastructure and expand how $USDT is used outside of trading. CEO Paolo Ardoino described Speed as evidence that Lightning networks can handle real commerce when paired with a stable digital dollar.
“Crypto has lived in the world of speculation for too long," Speed CEO Niraj Patel said. "Speed is making it usable — instantly, globally, and at scale. Lightning gives us speed; stablecoins give us universal access; our infrastructure brings it all together for consumers, creators, and merchants."
The deal comes as Tether continues to use its large profits to aggressively invest across a variety of industries. Among these are a majority stake in Latin American agricultural firm Adecoagro (AGRO), a privacy-focused health app, a stake in video-sharing platform Rumble (RUM).
The company reported more than $10 billion in profit during the first nine months of the year, driven largely by interest on U.S. Treasury holdings that back $USDT.