Tether says it holds 150,000 bitcoin, 50,000 above its last report
Why it matters
Tether's CEO says it holds about 150,000 bitcoin, roughly 50,000 more than its latest reserve report shows. If you rely on stablecoin attestations, they may not show everything an issuer owns.
The short version
Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said on 3 November that the stablecoin issuer holds about 150,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $11.5bn, according to CoinDesk. That is about 50,000 more than its third-quarter reserve report implies. He did not say where the extra coins are held or when Tether bought them.
Here's what happened. Speaking at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Tether's chief executive Paolo Ardoino said the company holds about 150,000 bitcoin. CoinDesk put that at roughly $11.5bn at current prices.
That does not match the paperwork. Tether's third-quarter reserve report, checked by accounting firm BDO, lists $8.37bn of bitcoin. At the price used in the report, that works out to about 100,060 coins, CoinDesk calculated.
So where is the gap? Ardoino did not say where the extra coins are held or when Tether got them. CoinDesk notes that Tether keeps its own investments, held through Tether Investments, separate from the reserves behind its USDT stablecoin. Those would not appear in the reserve report. Ardoino did not say whether that explains the difference.
Put it in context. At the end of September, Tether reported $191.45bn in reserve assets against $183.50bn in liabilities, according to the report figures cited by CoinDesk. Since 2023 it has said it will regularly put up to 15% of its realised operating profits into bitcoin.
For compliance teams, the takeaway is simple: a reserve report covers the reserves, not the whole company.
Where this comes from
Written with AI from the sources above and checked against them before publishing. Here's how we work. This is news, not financial advice. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.