Rich by Coin

Tether acquired a stake in the online marketplace Whop. As part of the deal, Whop will integrate Tether’s open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) for transactions in stablecoins USDT and USAT. Whop is a platform for creators of digital products such as software, subscriptions, and access to private communities on Discord or Telegram. Currently, it boasts over 18.4 million users, with participants earning a total of $3 billion.

Tether highlighted that Whop’s gross transaction volume is increasing by approximately 25% monthly. Whop’s co-founder and CEO, Steven Schwartz, noted that the investment amounted to $200 million, valuing the firm at $1.6 billion. We are excited to announce that Tether, the largest stablecoin company in the world, is making a strategic investment of $200M into Whop, valuing us at $1.6B. Our partnership with Tether marks a major step in building the world’s largest internet market.

Through this partnership, the platform will gain access to Tether’s infrastructure, expediting dollar transactions for content creators in regions where traditional payment systems are slow and costly. The integration of WDK will also pave the way for the introduction of DeFi tools, such as lending and borrowing, creating a non-custodial banking layer on top of the existing platform. Investing in Whop is a logical step in our strategy to support the real economy. We are building infrastructure capable of scaling to billions of people.

With WDK, Whop users will gain fast global payments and reliable financial tools, thus opening new opportunities for growth and financial independence, commented Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. The new investment round will enable Whop to enter markets in Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, strengthen financial infrastructure for its international audience, and implement AI tools for autonomous earnings. The issuer of USDT introduced WDK in October 2025.

The solution is designed “for people, machines, and AI agents.” The built-in multi-chain wallets are supported on all types of devices, from miniature systems to mobile, desktop, and server platforms. Earlier in January 2026, Tether invested in LayerZero Labs and the Hyperliquid application Dreamcash.