Tether, the leading stablecoin provider, is increasing its commitment to cryptocurrency adoption in Eastern Europe by investing further in CityPay.io, a crypto payment provider based in Georgia. The announcement was made on May 8, stating that the additional investment aims to support CityPay.io’s expansion into Eastern European countries such as Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. CityPay.io currently operates over 600 locations in Georgia and plans to launch its own e-wallet and card solutions within the next two years. Their ambitious goal is to establish more than 500,000 crypto payment points across the designated expansion regions. This recent funding follows Tether’s initial investment in CityPay.io in 2023, making it one of the first stablecoin firms to invest in the company. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, expressed excitement about the collaboration and the positive impact it has had on expanding cryptocurrency use in Georgia. Tether and CityPay.io have been working closely together since their initial partnership. In October 2023, CityPay.io integrated Tether for payments on the Polygon network, and Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, held meetings with Georgian government officials in September 2023 to further establish their presence in the country. Tether also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Georgian government in June 2023, aiming to develop Bitcoin and peer-to-peer infrastructure in Georgia. Georgia has emerged as one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world, with the government aspiring to make it a major global crypto hub. In addition to Tether, several other major cryptocurrency firms, including Binance, have established a presence in Georgia. The country is also known for its numerous Bitcoin ATMs, with 132 located in the capital city of Tbilisi at the time of writing.
New investment propels Tether's expansion of cryptocurrency payments in Eastern Europe