A Financial Times investigation has revealed that Tether executives are the previously undisclosed buyers of Peak Mining, a bitcoin mining firm sold by Northern Data AG - a company Tether itself controls. The transaction underscores the increasingly opaque web of business dealings between the world’s largest stablecoin issuer and its senior leadership.
Tether Executives Buy Bitcoin Mining Unit From Own Affiliate Company: Financial Times
22 December 2025 - 09:33 CET
By Sandmark staff
Disclosure of the Highland Group
In November 2025, Frankfurt-listed Northern Data announced the sale of Peak Mining for an initial $50mn, with a potential $150mn in additional profit-sharing payments. While the buyer was initially undisclosed, filings in the British Virgin Islands and Canada name Highland Group Mining Inc as the purchaser.
According to the FT, Highland Group’s directors are Giancarlo Devasini, Tether’s co-founder and chair, and Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO. Devasini is also listed as the sole director of a related Canadian entity involved in the deal. Tether currently holds a 54% controlling stake in Northern Data, effectively meaning its executives purchased a primary asset from a company they oversee, raising significant questions regarding corporate governance.
The Rumble and Northern Data mergerThe deal comes as Northern Data prepares for a strategic acquisition by tech platform Rumble Inc. Tether’s influence is central to this deal; the stablecoin issuer made a $775mn investment in Rumble in February 2025 and currently holds a 48% stake in the platform.
Rumble provides the infrastructure for Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social. The merger between Rumble and Northern Data is expected to integrate Tether’s "Rumble Wallet" as a core component of the platform’s expanding financial ecosystem, further aligning Tether with US political infrastructure.
Failed bids and shifting strategyDespite a daily trading volume exceeding $128bn, not all of Tether’s aggressive expansion efforts have succeeded. Earlier this month, the firm shuttered its Uruguayan mining operations following a dispute with state-owned utilities over energy tariffs.
Tether also faced a high-profile rejection in its bid for a 65.4% stake in Juventus Football Club. The company offered €1bn ($1.2bn) for the Italian side, which Ardoino claimed as a personal passion project. Exor, the Agnelli family’s holding company, rejected the offer within 24 hours, stating it had no intention of selling to the El Salvador-based firm.
