Tether Says It’s Stashing 150,000 $BTC — Now the Paperwork Needs Catching Up

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the stablecoin issuer holds around 150,000 $BTC, worth roughly $11.5 billion at current prices, exceeding the amount implied by the company’s latest reserve report by about 50,000 coins. “We have give or take 150,000 bitcoin ourselves. It’s not much, but it’s honest work,” Ardoino said during a keynote at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, where Tether has run a Bitcoin and stablecoin adoption program since 2022.

Tether’s third-quarter reserve attestation, covering assets backing its USDT stablecoin, lists $8.37 billion in Bitcoin valued at $83,621 per coin, implying roughly 100,060 $BTC. That leaves about 50,000 coins worth close to $3.8 billion unaccounted for in the public filings. Ardoino did not say where the additional Bitcoin is held or when it was acquired, and Tether has maintained that its corporate Bitcoin investments are separate from the reserves supporting USDT.

The company began buying Bitcoin for its corporate treasury in May 2023, announcing plans to invest up to 15% of net realized operating profits in the asset and custody the coins itself rather than use third-party custodians. Tether reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit in the third quarter alone and has posted billion-dollar quarterly profits throughout the year while USDT’s supply continued to grow.

Tether’s broader reserve position showed $191.45 billion in assets against $183.50 billion in liabilities, leaving a $7.95 billion excess cushion, nearly double the $4.11 billion buffer reported in June. U.S. Treasury bills account for most reserves at about $132.4 billion. The issuer began its first full financial audit with KPMG this year after years of scrutiny over whether USDT is fully backed.

Ardoino also highlighted Tether’s reach, saying the company now serves more than 730 million users worldwide and adds roughly 30 million wallets per quarter while funding a suite of open-source technologies with its profits.