Tether Launches Open-Source, P2P Password Manager PearPass to Eliminate Cloud Security Risks

Tether, the company behind the world's largest stablecoin USDT, has launched PearPass, a new open-source password manager designed to eliminate cloud-based security vulnerabilities. The application, first teased in June 2025, was officially announced on December 17, 2025.

The core innovation of PearPass is its architecture, which stores user credentials directly on their devices using device-level encryption and peer-to-peer (P2P) synchronization. According to Tether, this means passwords never leave a user's hardware except when shared across their own devices via encrypted P2P channels, removing the "single point of failure" created by traditional, server-hosted password vaults. The company emphasized there are "no servers, no intermediaries, no back doors."

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino framed the launch as a direct response to a string of high-profile cloud breaches, citing a recent leak of over 16 billion passwords from platforms like Apple, Facebook, and Google. "Every major breach proves the same point: if your secrets live in the cloud, they're not really yours," Ardoino stated.

The application is built using end-to-end encryption and open-source cryptographic libraries and has completed an independent security audit by Secfault Security. Tether claims PearPass can function during outages or in high-risk environments due to its lack of cloud dependency.

PearPass represents Tether's first fully open-source application within its new "Pears" ecosystem, an initiative focused on developing decentralized, user-controlled software tools. The launch is part of a broader long-term strategy to build technologies "resilient against future pressures of centralization." The app includes local-only storage, a password generator, P2P syncing, and key-based recovery, and will be available for free across major platforms.

This move into consumer cybersecurity marks a significant expansion for Tether beyond its core business of stablecoin issuance. It follows recent reports of the company exploring new liquidity corridors and a potential $20 billion fundraising round at a $500 billion valuation, as well as leading an $8 million investment in Speed, a Lightning Network-based payments processor.