7 Major Crypto Capital-Raising Machines: Tether Undoubtedly Leads, Coinbase Makes the List

In early February 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino published the "Tether Q4 2024 Asset Proof," mentioning: "Tether's total profit for 2024 reached $13.7 billion

In early February 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino published the "Tether Q4 2024 Asset Proof," a document that has set tongues wagging in the market. It reveals that Tether's total profit for 2024 reached $13.7 billion, with a profit of $6 billion in Q4 2024. As the leading stablecoin in the market, many are aware of Tether's strong capital-raising ability, but an annual profit of nearly $14 billion is still astonishing.

Meanwhile, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, the Tether team consists of only 165 people, achieving an impressive revenue per employee of $83.03 million, far exceeding investment giant Goldman Sachs (which has about 45,000 employees and an estimated annual profit of $14 billion in 2024). It must be said that compared to traditional industries, the revenue per employee of leading companies in the cryptocurrency sector is remarkably high.

In light of this, Odaily Planet Daily will briefly review a number of crypto capital-raising machines for readers' reference. (Note: Due to the high employee turnover in the crypto industry and varying statistical standards, the following data is only a partial statistic and for reference only.)

7 Major Crypto Capital-Raising Machines: Tether Undoubtedly Leads, Coinbase Makes the List

List of Crypto Capital-Raising Machines

1. Tether (USDT Issuer): $13.7 Billion Profit, Team of Less Than 200

The world's largest stablecoin issuer, USDT, dominates the stablecoin market by supporting the token's value through assets like U.S. Treasury bonds, with over 400 million users.

2. pump.fun: 2024 Revenue Exceeds $300 Million

As the most prominent meme coin launch platform in this cycle, pump.fun is also one of the most capital-raising crypto machines. According to on-chain analysts, pump.fun generated approximately 1.703 million SOL from its launch until the end of 2024, with an average price of $198, resulting in a total profit of about $337 million.

Additionally, according to Qiao, the founder of Alliance DAO, the investor behind pump.fun, the initial team consisted of only 3 people, which gradually expanded to a dozen. We calculate using a median of 15 people.

3. Binance: User Base Exceeds 250 Million, Employee Count Over 5,000

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a user base surpassing 250 million and total trading volume in spot and derivatives exceeding $100 trillion.

4. Coinbase: Annual Net Profit of $2.6 Billion, Team of Over 3,700

Founded in 2012, it is a leading cryptocurrency trading platform in the U.S.

On April 14, 2021, Coinbase successfully went public on NASDAQ, becoming the first publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange in the world. According to Coinbase's Q4 2024 financial report, the company generated $954 million in revenue in the last quarter, achieving quarterly profitability for the first time in two years. By the end of 2024, Coinbase had 3,772 full-time employees, a year-on-year increase of 10%.

5. Circle (USDC Issuer): Annual Profit Undisclosed, Total Employees Under 1,000

The issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin, USDC, focusing on compliance and institutional partnerships.

According to previous official news, USDC's circulation exceeded $45 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 78%, with over $18 trillion in USDC transactions to date; the user base has surpassed 500 million.

6. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy): Net Profit Under $500 Million, Team of Over 1,500

Previously, according to The Block, Strategy (MicroStrategy) increased its Bitcoin holdings nearly twofold in Q4 2024, with quarterly operating expenses reaching $1.103 billion, a year-on-year increase of 693%, resulting in a net loss of $670.8 million and total revenue of $120.7 million, about $3 million lower than general expectations, down 3% from last year.

7. Kraken: 2024 Profit Approximately $380 Million, Employee Count Around 2,500

An established American exchange. On January 31 of this year, the company's financial report indicated that its 2024 revenue