Tether reinforced its belief in Bitcoin as a primary reserve asset with its latest acquisition—a $1 billion purchase that brings its total stake to $9.7 billion amid a soaring USDT supply.
Summary
- Tether bought 8,889 BTC worth $1 billion in Q3, raising reserves to $9.7 billion.
- The move follows a pattern of end-quarter Bitcoin acquisitions.
- USDT supply nears $175 billion, reinforcing Tether’s dominance in stablecoins.
According to onchain data flagged by Nansen on Sept. 30, a wallet tagged to Tether received 8,889 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $1 billion, in a transaction executed as the third quarter closed.
The acquisition, sourced from a Bitfinex-linked wallet, follows a pattern of end-of-quarter reserve bolstering that the firm has established over the past year, bringing its total disclosed Bitcoin holdings to about $9.7 billion.
Bitcoin at the core of Tether’s reserve strategy
This latest acquisition is a direct execution of a policy Tether formally announced in 2023, committing to allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits toward purchasing Bitcoin. The stablecoin giant described the move as a way to diversify the reserves that support USDT’s peg to the U.S. dollar.
While Bitcoin is not the sole backing for USDT, its growing weight on Tether’s balance sheet illustrates the company’s view of the asset as a hedge against traditional market risks. By holding non-sovereign, hard assets alongside cash and cash equivalents, Tether is betting that Bitcoin can function as a long-term counterweight to inflation and sovereign-debt instability.
This distinction matters given that USDT, with nearly $175 billion in circulation, now serves as the largest pool of dollar liquidity in the crypto economy. For context, USDT’s closest competitor, Circle’s USDC, had a market cap of $73 billion at last check, according to crypto.news data.
Beyond direct treasury purchases, Tether is deepening its involvement in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem through strategic capital allocations. Earlier this year, the firm reportedly seeded more than $1.4 billion in Bitcoin to Twenty One Capital, a treasury-management firm led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers, where Tether is a lead investor.
