Tether (USDT) is preparing to launch a U.S.-based dollar-pegged token as early as this year.

Tether, the firm behind the dollar-pegged token used widely in global crypto markets, is preparing to launch a U.S.-based dollar-pegged token as early as this year.

Announcing the move at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the domestic stablecoin would differ from its existing USDT product. It also comes amid a flurry of activity to win over Washington to its flagship stablecoin.

“A domestic stablecoin would be different from the international stablecoin,” Ardoino revealed in an interview with CNBC.

“It depends on the timeline of the final legislation… but we are looking at that by the end of the year, or early next year at the fastest.”

Now headquartered in El Salvador, Tether is known to be making efforts to gain traction in Washington. Ardoino has reportedly been engaging in private meetings with U.S. lawmakers, including a lunch on Capitol Hill with Senator Bill Hagerty.

This outreach coincides with a political environment that appears more receptive to crypto than in years past, particularly under President Donald Trump. The GOP-backed GENIUS Act, now under discussion, could allow foreign stablecoin issuers like Tether to operate domestically if they agree to work closely with U.S. law enforcement—a requirement Ardoino says his firm already meets in full.

“There is no company, even in the traditional financial system, that has such a breadth of collaboration with law enforcement as Tether does,” he claimed. “We are always trying to do better and more to block criminal activity.”

Tether Posts $1 Billion Profit in Q1

Tether’s record on transparency has drawn scrutiny in the past. In 2021, it paid $18.5 million to settle with the New York attorney general over allegations it misrepresented its stablecoin reserves.

Since then, the firm has hired independent auditors, partnered with Cantor Fitzgerald to manage its U.S. Treasury holdings, and claims to hold nearly $120 billion in government debt with $5.6 billion in excess equity, according to its latest attestation.

In the first quarter of the year, the firm posted a profit of $1 billion on the reserves backing its stablecoins, which include U.S. Treasurys and cash equivalents.

The stablecoin giant moves excess capital to strategic investments that diversify its revenue. These include renewable energy, data infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and stakes in public companies like Italian football club Juventus and South American agricultural firm Adecoagro.