According to a Bloomberg report, Tether has completed its $20 million investment in Argentine digital bank Ualá through its $197 million equity funding round announced in March. Tether's $20 million investment represents roughly 0.6% of Ualá's post-money equity at the $3.2 billion valuation, as reported by Bloomberg on July 15, 2026. The investment extends Tether's aggressive push across Latin America's fast-growing markets, positioning the stablecoin giant in one of the region's largest neobanks. The funding round was first announced on March 4, 2026, with Allianz X leading the charge, and Tether's involvement was disclosed at the time, though the specific investment figure was not disclosed until recent reporting.
The investment continues Tether's recent expansion across Latin America's financial and digital asset sectors. Earlier this month, the company invested $20 million in Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin to support blockchain infrastructure expansion. A few months earlier, Tether led a $14 million Series A funding round for Argentine crypto platform Belo, alongside investors including Titan Fund, The Venture City, Mindset Ventures, and G2. Ualá serves 11 million+ customers in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia at a $3.2 billion valuation, with backers including Tencent, SoftBank and Allianz X. The company holds banking licenses in all three markets and offers debit cards, credit cards, payments, loans, and investment products through its mobile app, founded in 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri.
Despite Tether's investment, Ualá's CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri has confirmed that Tether is acting solely as a financial investor, citing current regional regulations preventing any immediate USDT integration. According to Bloomberg, Barbieri stated that while the company always wants to stay at the forefront of new products, it currently operates as a bank in all markets and faces regulatory barriers. "We always want to stay at the forefront of new products, but today we are a bank in all of our markets, and given the regulatory environment in Argentina and Mexico, there won't be any type of stablecoin integration," Barbieri stated. He emphasized that "Tether is joining solely as a financial investor." This clarification comes as Tether increasingly invests beyond its core stablecoin business while seeking greater exposure to Latin America's growing fintech sector. The $20 million position represents a meaningful but not dominant position in the $197 million round.
Outside its investment activity, Tether has continued promoting USDT for practical payment use cases across Latin America. According to reports from Bolivia, government officials are evaluating a proposal to recognize USDT alongside the boliviano and the U.S. dollar within the country's payment system. Local banks Banco Unión and Banco FIE already provide services connected to USDT, responding to a prolonged shortage of foreign currency. Ualá has been navigating a challenging lending environment after higher interest rates and weaker household credit quality weighed on Argentina's banking sector, though Barbieri reports that "Ualá's delinquency rates have improved over the past seven months," putting the Argentine business on track to break even within the next one or two months. The competitive landscape in Latin American fintech is heating up considerably, with Nubank crossing 100 million customers and launching crypto trading features, while MercadoLibre's Mercado Pago continues expanding digital payment capabilities across the region.
Alongside regional expansion, Tether has been increasing its investment in enterprise payment infrastructure. Last week, the company led a $7 million funding round for Pact Labs to integrate its USAT stablecoin into U.S. payroll systems. The partnership aims to bring blockchain-based settlement into a payroll market that processes more than $11 trillion annually, allowing businesses to pay wages using stablecoin payment rails. Ualá is also expanding its product offering in Mexico, recently launching access to investments in U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds, targeting the country's heavily cash-based payments market despite increasing competition from banks and fintech companies. The $34 million deployed across Ualá and Belo in recent months suggests Tether is willing to be patient about the payoff, as the value proposition depends entirely on what comes next regarding regulatory changes that would allow stablecoin integration.
