Tether holds about 150,000 Bitcoin, Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino said, a figure that sits roughly 50,000 BTC above the amount implied by the company’s latest reserve attestation.
Speaking during his keynote at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, Ardoino said, 「We have give or take 150,000 bitcoin ourselves. It’s not much, but it’s honest work.」 Tether has run a Bitcoin and stablecoin adoption program in the city since 2022.
At that size, Tether would rank among the largest corporate Bitcoin holders. Bitcoin Magazine compared the position with Strategy’s 848,517 BTC as of the third quarter and said Tether would still stand ahead of most public miners and treasury companies.
Ardoino did not say where the additional coins are held, when they were bought, or whether they belong to the stablecoin issuer or to Tether Investments, the arm that holds the group’s venture and equity positions. The report also said the remark does not signal a new purchase of 50,000 BTC.
Reserve attestation points to about 100,060 BTC
Tether International’s third-quarter reserve report, published on Oct. 30 with an attestation from BDO, listed $8.37 billion in Bitcoin valued at $83,621.23 per coin as of Sept. 30. That implies holdings of about 100,060 BTC.
The same report showed the company held roughly 98,930 BTC at the end of June, which means the quarter-over-quarter increase was about 1,130 BTC. Bitcoin Magazine said most of the $2.57 billion rise in the Bitcoin line came from price appreciation rather than purchases.
A possible explanation for the gap
Bitcoin Magazine said the difference between the attestation and Ardoino’s figure may be explained by how Tether separates assets. The company has said investments made from profits are kept apart from the reserves backing USDT, so coins held by Tether Investments would not appear in the attestation.
Tether’s Bitcoin exposure also goes beyond its own wallets. The company took full control of Twenty One Capital in May after buying out SoftBank, backs Adecoagro’s mining operations in Brazil, and runs mining and energy ventures in Latin America. The report said it remains unclear whether any of those positions are included in the 150,000 BTC figure.
Balance sheet buffer and asset mix
The disclosure came as Tether’s balance sheet became more dependent on Bitcoin and gold. The third-quarter report showed $191.45 billion in reserve assets against $183.50 billion in liabilities, leaving an excess reserve of $7.95 billion. In June, that cushion stood at $4.11 billion after having been cut in half.
Bitcoin at $8.37 billion and gold at about $19.1 billion together exceed that excess reserve by several times over, meaning a sharp drop in either asset would cut into the buffer. U.S. Treasury bills remained the largest reserve holding at about $132.4 billion.
Tether earned about $1.5 billion in the quarter and about $4.5 billion in the first nine months of the year. In August, the company completed its first independent audit with KPMG, ending years of relying on attestations alone.
USDT user figure disclosed at the forum
Ardoino also said at the forum that USDT has more than 730 million users and is adding about 30 million wallets each quarter.
Bitcoin traded near $77,600 on Tuesday, according to the report. At that price, Tether’s stated 150,000 BTC would be worth about $11.6 billion, while the attested holdings would be worth about $7.8 billion, below the Sept. 30 valuation level.
Tether has not said whether it plans to publish a breakdown of the coins held outside the reserve structure.
