Tether is putting $400 million behind stablecoin private credit, teaming up with Fasanara Capital to launch a new fund designed to push capital into lending markets around the world.
Called StableFund, the vehicle will initially be backed by $400 million from the two firms. They also plan to raise as much as $3 billion more from institutional investors, according to a Wednesday announcement.
The structure is less about trading crypto and more about using stablecoin infrastructure to make traditional credit move differently.
Fasanara will manage the investments, focusing on short-duration, asset-backed strategies. Tether, meanwhile, will act as both an originator and an advisor, sourcing opportunities connected to USDT and providing the infrastructure needed to move the money.
That includes on- and off-ramps as well as treasury rails built around stablecoins. The idea is to make cross-border settlement more efficient than conventional financial plumbing, particularly when capital needs to move between markets quickly.
Stablecoin private credit moves beyond crypto markets
StableFund is designed to plug directly into fintech lending networks serving small and midsize businesses as well as consumers.
Those lending platforms operate across more than 60 countries, giving the fund a decidedly global footprint from the start. Instead of sitting inside a crypto-native ecosystem, the capital is intended to reach borrowers through existing financial technology platforms.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino described the strategy as a way to connect the company’s origination network more directly with businesses and communities seeking funding.
“We are turning Tether’s origination network into a direct channel for capital to flow to the businesses and communities that need it most,” Ardoino said in the statement.
For Fasanara, the appeal is similarly practical. The firm sees stablecoin rails as another way to improve how money reaches real-economy lending markets, particularly when transactions cross borders.
“We are improving how capital is deployed into real-economy lending markets and enabling more efficient cross-border credit flows,” Fasanara Capital CEO Francesco Filia said.
London-based Fasanara brings substantial experience in credit markets to the partnership. The firm manages more than $6 billion in assets, with investments spanning SME loans, consumer credit, trade receivables and supply chain finance.
That experience is important to the structure of stablecoin private credit. StableFund is not positioning USDT as an investment in itself; instead, the stablecoin becomes part of the machinery used to originate, settle and manage credit.
The result is a hybrid model: conventional lending strategies on one side, stablecoin infrastructure on the other.
Tether’s involvement also highlights how the company’s business is expanding beyond the familiar role of issuing USDT. StableFund puts its liquidity, settlement network and origination capabilities closer to the center of private credit markets.
For investors, the next question is how much of the planned $3 billion additional capital StableFund can attract. For the broader financial industry, the more interesting question may be whether stablecoin rails become a routine part of private credit rather than a crypto-specific experiment.