Tether Bitcoin Holdings Hit 150,000 BTC by CEO’s Count, 50,000 Above Reserve Report

Tether bitcoin holdings are larger than the stablecoin issuer’s own reserve paperwork suggests, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino. Speaking at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, he said the company holds “give or take 150,000 bitcoin,” adding, “It’s not much, but it’s honest work.” At recent prices near $77,600, that stack is worth roughly $11.6 billion.

The number stands out because Tether’s third-quarter reserve report, published October 30 with an attestation from BDO, points to a much smaller position. It lists $8.37 billion in bitcoin, valued at $83,621.23 per coin on September 30. That works out to about 100,060 BTC, leaving a gap of roughly 50,000 coins.

Why the Tether bitcoin holdings figures don’t match

The sources do not describe a fresh 50,000 BTC purchase, and Ardoino gave no acquisition timeline or wallet breakdown. The likelier explanation is structural. Tether has said that investments made from its profits are kept separate from the reserves backing USDT. Coins held by an affiliate such as Tether Investments, which holds the group’s venture and equity positions, would therefore not show up in the attestation. Ardoino did not say which entity owns the extra coins, so that remains an inference rather than a confirmed answer.

Tether has been buying bitcoin since it adopted a policy in May 2023 of putting a portion of its profits into the asset. Its wider exposure also runs through mining and energy ventures in Latin America, a full takeover of Twenty One Capital in May, and backing for Adecoagro’s mining operations in Brazil. Whether any of those positions are counted in the 150,000 figure is unclear.

A bigger cushion, but one tied to volatile assets

The disclosure comes as Tether’s balance sheet leans more heavily on bitcoin and gold. The Q3 report shows $191.45 billion in reserve assets against about $183.50 billion in liabilities, an excess of $7.95 billion. That is up from roughly $4.1 billion at the end of June. Treasury bill exposure remains the backbone at about $132.4 billion, though the direct holdings account for about $122.84 billion of that. Gold, at around $19.1 billion, and the $8.37 billion in bitcoin together exceed the excess several times over, so a sharp fall in either would eat into the buffer.

Most of the bitcoin line’s rise during the quarter reflected price, not buying. Estimates based on the attestation suggest only about 1,130 BTC were added, up from roughly 98,930 at the end of June. Tether also reported about $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the quarter and $4.5 billion over nine months. In August it completed its first independent audit with KPMG, after years of relying on attestations alone.

If the 150,000 figure is accurate, Tether would rank among the largest corporate bitcoin holders. It would still sit far behind Strategy, which held 848,517 BTC as of the third quarter. Ardoino also said USDT has more than 730 million users and adds about 30 million wallets each quarter. He framed the company’s future around an “Independence Stack” covering energy, mining, communications, self-custody wallets and artificial intelligence.

For now, the 150,000 figure is a CEO’s verbal estimate rather than an audited number. Tether has not said whether it will publish a breakdown of coins held outside the reserve. Until it does, the gap between the keynote and the attestation will keep drawing scrutiny from analysts weighing Tether bitcoin holdings against its reserve disclosures.

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File photo: Paolo Ardoino by Gage Skidmore.jpg by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.