Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company currently owns around 150,000 Bitcoin, with a market value of approximately $11.5 billion at prevailing prices. This figure is around 50,000 coins higher than Tether’s latest officially reported holdings, raising new questions about the company’s asset reserves.
Discrepancy between reported and stated Bitcoin holdings
During a keynote address at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, Ardoino remarked, “We have give or take 150,000 Bitcoin ourselves. It’s not much, but it’s honest work.” His statement revealed a significant gap compared to the number listed in the company’s most recent reserve attestation for the third quarter.
The Q3 reserve attestation, which audits the assets backing Tether’s USDT stablecoin, detailed that the company held $8.37 billion worth of Bitcoin, calculated at a price of $83,621 per coin. This translates to approximately 100,060 BTC.
| Claimed by CEO | Q3 Attestation | |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin held | 150,000 BTC | 100,060 BTC |
| Value (approx.) | $11.5 billion | $8.37 billion |
| Difference | 49,940 BTC (~$3.8 billion) | |
Ardoino did not clarify where the additional 50,000 Bitcoin are stored or when they were acquired. No evidence was provided to suggest these coins were purchased recently. Tether’s public filings so far do not account for the extra holdings cited by the CEO.
Bitcoin’s role in Tether’s reserves has grown, as Ardoino reiterated the company retains “give or take 150,000 Bitcoin,” but he stopped short of detailing the source or location of the excess coins outside of declared reserves.
Tether has maintained that its corporate Bitcoin holdings are separated from the assets used to back its USDT stablecoin. The Q3 reserve attestation only includes assets designated as support for USDT, leaving the status of the undisclosed coins unclear.
Following recent price declines, Bitcoin traded near $78,576, a drop of about 3.6% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. The value of the Bitcoin holdings listed in the Q3 report are now lower than the $8.37 billion reported at the end of September.
Funding and reporting of Bitcoin acquisitions
Tether has been gradually increasing its Bitcoin holdings over several years. In May 2023, the company announced it would allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits to Bitcoin acquisitions. Tether also committed to self-custody of these assets, rather than relying on third-party custodians.
The company’s Bitcoin purchases have been funded by robust operating profits. In the third quarter alone, Tether reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit. Similar billion-dollar profits have been reported in successive quarters as the USDT supply has expanded.
Tether is a leading issuer of stablecoins, with USDT recognized as the world’s largest dollar-pegged cryptocurrency by circulation. USDT is commonly used to facilitate trading and transfers across digital asset markets.
Mini dictionary: Reserve attestation, a procedure in which an independent third-party auditor verifies and certifies the amount and composition of assets held by a company (such as Tether) to back its issued tokens. This is not a full financial audit but provides periodic confirmation of specified balances.
Reserves and growing user base
According to its Q3 attestation, Tether listed $191.45 billion in assets against $183.50 billion in liabilities, leaving an excess reserve cushion of $7.95 billion. This is nearly double the $4.11 billion buffer reported in June. U.S. Treasury bills continue to make up the bulk of these reserves, totaling roughly $132.4 billion.
The company has faced ongoing scrutiny about whether USDT reserves are fully backed. Traditionally, Tether has published quarterly attestations instead of full audits. In 2024, Tether began its first full audit with KPMG, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, marking a substantial step toward greater transparency over its reserves.
Tether’s third-quarter attestation revealed a $7.95 billion excess reserve, almost double the cushion from June, as the company continues to rely primarily on U.S. Treasury bills for backing.
At the Lugano event, Ardoino also announced that Tether now serves over 730 million users globally and is adding about 30 million wallets each quarter. He presented a range of open-source technologies funded by Tether’s profits, reflecting the company’s expanding ambitions within the digital assets sector.
