Tether makes $775M bet on Rumble to challenge YouTube’s dominance

Tether has made a bold partnership by investing $775 million into Rumble, a video-sharing platform and cloud services provider. Rumble is the closest competitor to YouTube and is famous for its uncensored content.

Rumble will use $250 million of the money to support operations and the remainder to fund a tender offer for up to 70 million shares of its common stock at a price of $7.50, according to a Friday evening press release. That $7.50 is the same price per share Tether is paying for its stake.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardonio, through his commented on the investment on X. 

Tether deeply believes in the fundamental values of freedom of speech and financial freedom.

Our strategic investment in Rumble greatly underscores @Tether_to ‘s focus in supporting technology and companies that empower humans, delivering independence and resilience to our… https://t.co/vHYVbQJnKk

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino) December 20, 2024

He added that their firm believes in the fundamental values of freedom of speech and financial freedom. 

YouTube has been censoring content that violates its policy, and some people claim that it rides on the policy to censure voices that are against particular narratives, limiting freedom of speech. So Tether, in a bid to reinforce fundamental values, including freedom of speech and financial freedom, has settled on Rumble, citing that they don’t censor content.

Rumble to use part of the investment for funding a self-tender

According to Rumble, the partnership won’t interfere with their structures much. Chris Pavlovski, Rumble’s chairman and CEO, will remain in charge of the company as he retains control. Tether’s investment will ensure it owns a minority position in Rumble’s outstanding common stock. The agreement means that Tether has no rights to designate any Rumble board member.

Rumble will also use part of the investment to fund a self-tender offer for up to 70 million of Rumble’s common stock. The board of directors also gave a green light to investing excess cash reserves in Bitcoin to the tune of  $20 million. Crypto frenzy has risen with the election of the US President, Donald Trump. His clear position in cryptocurrency and his ambitions to establish a Bitcoin reserve are motivating investors. 

Beyond shareholding arrangements, Tether hopes to carry out meaningful advertisements and enhance its cloud and crypto payment solutions relationship with Rumble.

Tether investment to drive Rumble’s next step of growth

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski believes that the partnership with Tether is what they need for their next phase of growth. The platform aims to outdo its competitors by offering alternative and credible avenues for sharing uncensored information.

According to Google Finance, the partnership announcement led to a 51.6% surge in Rumbles’ (RUM) share price to  $10.90.

The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, is exciting. Rumble may break its ceiling and consolidate users, and Tether will immensely benefit from adverts—a win-win solution. What will be interesting to watch is how Rumble will fare in its competition with YouTube.