Tether (USDT), the leading stablecoin issuer, has invested more than $112 million into an agroindustrial company that started in Argentina.
Documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month indicate a Tether subsidiary holds 10,048,249 common shares in Adecoagro, a company with agricultural and energy production operations in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
Adecoagro shares (AGRO) are trading at $11.21 at time of writing, and Tether’s stake represents 9.8% of the company.
The stablecoin issuer’s subsidiary, Tether Investments Limited, has been sinking money into “emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and peer-to-peer platforms, sustainable Bitcoin mining operations, and digital education initiatives,” according to the SEC filing.
It’s not Adecoagro’s first interaction with the digital asset space. In 2021, the agroindustrial firm itself invested in Agrotoken, a blockchain startup focused on tokenizing field production.
Adecoagro manages 561,000 hectares of land and reports that it has produced 838,000 tons of crops and rice. The firm says it has facilitated $1.442 billion worth of sales.
Tether recorded a “record-breaking” $5.2 billion worth of net profit in the first half of the year, according to the firm’s Q2 quarterly report.
The firm issues USDT, which aims to maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar. It’s the largest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of more than $118 billion.
Generated Image: Midjourney