Tether posts $1.5 billion Q3 net operating profit as excess reserves rise to $7.95 billion
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Tether earned $1.5 billion in Q3 net operating profit and $4.5 billion over the first nine months.
Its assets totaled $191.45 billion at the end of September, $7.95 billion more than its liabilities.
Its bitcoin was valued at $8.37 billion, up from $5.8 billion at the end of June.
Tether, issuer of USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, published its third-quarter reserves attestation on Oct. 30, reporting total assets of $191.45 billion as of Sept. 30. That was $7.95 billion more than its total liabilities of $183.5 billion, which are mostly tied to USDT in circulation. The surplus, known as excess reserves, rose by more than $3.8 billion from $4.11 billion at the end of June.
Tether said its net operating profit was $1.5 billion in the third quarter, in line with the previous quarter, bringing the total for the first nine months to $4.5 billion. Most of the income came from U.S. Treasury bills and reverse repurchase agreements (reverse repos, short-term lending secured by Treasuries). "Our responsibility is to make sure USD₮ remains dependable when people need it most, including when markets and financial systems come under pressure," CEO Paolo Ardoino said.
What backs the $191 billion
The largest share of the reserves breakdown in the report was U.S. Treasury bills with a weighted average maturity of less than 90 days, at $122.84 billion, up more than $7.8 billion from $114.96 billion at the end of June. Overnight reverse repos fell to $9.52 billion from $18.63 billion, while term reverse repos stood at $7.18 billion. Tether put its combined direct and indirect holdings of U.S. Treasury bills at $132.4 billion.
- Precious metals (physical gold bars): $19.08 billion
- Secured loans: $14.18 billion ($13.45 billion at the end of June)
- Bitcoin: $8.37 billion
- Other investments: $6 billion; public equities: $4.18 billion
Liabilities related to digital tokens issued were $183.47 billion, nearly unchanged from $183.62 billion at the end of June. Tether said USDT issuance held broadly steady at about $184 billion across the first three quarters of the year.
About 1,100 more bitcoin, roughly 3 fewer tons of gold
The report said Tether holds its bitcoin on-chain in wallets it controls and valued it at $83,621 per coin, the Bloomberg closing price on Sept. 30. Dividing by that price puts its holdings at about 100,060 BTC. At the end of June, $5.8 billion valued at $58,642 per coin worked out to about 98,930 BTC, meaning holdings rose by roughly 1,100 BTC over the quarter. Bitcoin's 43% price gain over the same period accounted for most of the more than $2.5 billion increase in value.
Gold moved the other way. Converted at the gold price used in the report ($4,157 an ounce), Tether's gold bars came to about 143 tons at the end of September, a little over 3 tons less than the roughly 146 tons at the end of June. Tether said in its second-quarter release that it had "added 14 tons of physical gold," but this release did not mention its gold holdings.
A snapshot of Sept. 30, not an audit
The report is an assurance report prepared by BDO's Italian firm under the ISAE 3000 (Revised) international standard. After confirmations from banks and custodians, gold inventory checks and reconciliations against blockchain ledgers, BDO concluded that assets and liabilities were fairly presented at a single point in time, 11:59 p.m. UTC on Sept. 30. BDO stated that it did not provide any assurance for any other date.
The statement of changes in equity attached to the report showed a financial result of $1.66 billion for January through September. Adding that to opening equity of $6.81 billion and subtracting $519 million in net capital movements gives $7.95 billion at the end of September. Tether is a defendant in one class action in New York courts over the 2017-2018 drop in bitcoin's price, and it said no provision was recognized because the outcome cannot be reliably estimated. Its 2025 financial statements were audited and approved at a shareholders' meeting on Aug. 13.
USDT trades at a 0.6% premium in Korea
On Upbit's Korean won market, USDT traded at 1,346 won at 7:32 a.m. KST on Oct. 31, the same price as on Bithumb. That was about 0.6% above the dollar-won exchange rate of 1,338 won at the time. USDT's 52-week low on Upbit was 1,327 won, set on Oct. 21.