While most cryptocurrency companies content themselves with plastering their logos across stadium naming rights and jersey sleeves, Tether has quietly assembled a €128 million equity position in Juventus—a 10.7% stake that makes the stablecoin issuer the second-largest shareholder in one of Europe’s most storied football clubs.
The investment, disclosed in February 2025 and completed by April, represents an unprecedented move by a major cryptocurrency firm into European football governance. Yet Tether’s attempts to translate its substantial shareholding into boardroom influence have met with the kind of resistance typically reserved for unwelcome takeover bids.
Despite holding more than one-tenth of the club, Tether finds itself locked out of board discussions by majority shareholder Exor NV, which maintains its commanding 65.4% control. The cryptocurrency company’s pursuit of a director’s seat has been postponed until after the Club World Cup concludes on July 13—a delay that speaks volumes about traditional football’s wariness toward crypto money, regardless of how desperately it might need such capital.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CTO and devoted Juventus supporter, has publicly aired his frustration over limited communication from club leadership. His grievances highlight the peculiar dynamics when Silicon Valley-style tech executives encounter the insular world of European football governance, where influence rarely correlates directly with investment size. This tension unfolds against a backdrop where Trump’s administration has positioned America as the global leader in digital assets through strategic regulatory rollbacks and innovation-focused policies.
Juventus’s €199 million reported deficit provides significant context for this standoff. The club’s precarious financial position makes Tether’s investment both welcome and potentially threatening—a lifeline that comes with strings attached to an industry still recovering from spectacular collapses like FTX’s implosion. The club’s financial struggles have intensified as losses mounted to $230 million between 2023 and 2024, creating an environment where strategic partnerships become increasingly critical.
The broader cryptocurrency-sports landscape has evolved into a sponsorship playground where exchanges like Binance, Crypto.com, and Coinbase compete for visibility. Juventus itself signed WhiteBit as a €5 million annual sleeve sponsor, demonstrating comfort with crypto partnerships provided they remain purely commercial rather than strategic. This approach mirrors Juventus’s three-year contract with WhiteBit that follows similar arrangements with previous cryptocurrency partners including Bitget and Zondacrypto.
Tether’s boardroom ambitions represent a fundamental shift from transactional sponsorship toward genuine corporate governance participation. Whether European football’s old guard will accommodate this evolution—or whether financial desperation will ultimately force their hand—remains an open question as traditional sporting institutions grapple with cryptocurrency’s persistent encroachment into their decision-making sanctuaries.
