Tether CEO Launches Offline Password Manager After 16 Billion Credential Leak
In response to the largest credential breach ever recorded, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has unveiled PearPass, a new open-source, offline-first password manager designed to eliminate reliance on centralized storage.
The launch comes amid revelations that more than 16 billion passwords were exposed in a sweeping leak affecting login credentials across major platforms, including Apple, Meta, and Google. Cybersecurity experts have called the breach “unprecedented” and warned of heightened risks of fraud and identity theft.
Ardoino blamed cloud infrastructure for the incident, stating, “The cloud has failed us. Again. 16 billion passwords just leaked. It’s time to ditch the cloud.”
PearPass aims to tackle this vulnerability head-on by storing all user credentials locally, without syncing to cloud servers. Unlike traditional password managers that rely on centralized vaults, PearPass will function entirely offline, shielding users from large-scale hacking campaigns that typically target corporate-managed databases.
The tool will be fully open-source, allowing transparency and community scrutiny. Early descriptions suggest users will be able to generate and manage strong passwords on their devices, with no data ever leaving local storage — a security model long advocated by privacy experts but rarely implemented at scale.
While the identity of the perpetrators behind the leak remains unknown, the fallout has underscored systemic weaknesses in cloud-based data security. PearPass positions itself as a direct counter to that model — promising users complete control over their digital keys in an increasingly breach-prone world.
Kosta Gushterov
Reporter at Coindoo
Kosta gehört seit 2021 zum Team und hat seine Position mit seinem Wissensdurst, seinem unglaublichen Engagement und seiner „detektivischen“ Denkweise gefestigt. Er deckt nicht nur eine breite Palette von Trendthemen ab, sondern erstellt auch Rezensionen, PR-Artikel und Bildungsinhalte. Seine Arbeit wurde auch von anderen Nachrichtenagenturen referenziert.
