Tether Crosses the Year-End with an Additional 8,888 Bitcoins, Reaching a Holding of 96,000 Coins and Ranks Fifth Globally. Through Profit Reinvestment and Gold Allocation to Strengthen Reserves, Demonstrating Long-Term Bullish Confidence.
A Grand Investment of 780 Million USD at Year-End, Tether Maintains Its Position as the Fifth Largest Bitcoin Holder Globally
The leading stablecoin Tether once again demonstrates its strong financial strength and unwavering confidence in the cryptocurrency market in Q4 2025.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino officially announced on social media that the company purchased over 8,888 BTC in the last quarter of 2025. This acquisition has become an integral part of Tether’s long-term digital asset strategy.
Image Source: X/@paoloardoino Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the company purchased over 8,888 BTC in Q4 2025.
According to on-chain data analysis, Tether conducted two large-scale transfers during that quarter: on November 7, transferring in 961 BTC, and on New Year’s Eve, January 1, 2026, transferring in another 8,888.8 BTC. The value of this year-end transaction at the time of withdrawal was approximately 778 million USD, showing that this stablecoin issuer continued its asset allocation plan despite market volatility.
With this latest addition, Tether’s main Bitcoin reserve address now holds a total of 96,185 BTC, worth approximately 8.4 billion USD at current market prices. According to data from Bitinfo Charts, Tether ranks as the fifth-largest known Bitcoin wallet address globally, behind Binance, Robinhood, and its sister company Bitfinex. It also ranks second in the world among corporate Bitcoin holdings, only behind well-known large holders like Strategy.
Image Source: Bitinfo Charts Tether’s position as the fifth-largest known Bitcoin wallet address globally, behind Binance, Robinhood, and Bitfinex.
Including Bitcoin in its reserves not only balances its asset-liability sheet through diversification but also sends a strong signal to the market, indicating that institutional investors’ confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term store of value remains intact.
15% Profit Reinvestment, Unrealized Gains of 3.5 Billion USD Show Precision Investment Vision
Tether’s Bitcoin accumulation path stems from a clear policy announced in May 2023: the company plans to allocate 15% of its operating profits each quarter to purchase Bitcoin to strengthen reserves.
Looking back at 2025, despite global economic turbulence, unclear interest rate policies, and escalating geopolitical risks causing frequent market fluctuations, Tether strictly adhered to this strategy. At one point, its holdings even surpassed 100,000 BTC. Although there were fluctuations due to fund allocations to its supported investment firm “XXI” (Twenty One Capital), which led to market speculation, Ardoino clarified that the company did not reduce holdings but instead engaged in strategic capital distribution. Currently, XXI also holds about 43,514 BTC, ranking third among publicly listed companies’ Bitcoin holdings worldwide, behind Mara Holdings and Strategy.
Image Source: Bitcoin Treasuries XXI also holds about 43,514 BTC, ranking third among publicly listed companies’ Bitcoin holdings worldwide.
From a financial perspective, Tether’s Bitcoin investment portfolio has yielded extremely substantial profits. Data shows that the average cost of acquiring Bitcoin was about 51,100 USD per coin. Based on current market conditions, Tether’s unrealized profit has exceeded 3.5 billion USD. This remarkable paper gain, combined with its core product $USDT ’s interest income, jointly supports the company’s strong earnings.
Market experts analyze that stablecoin issuers are gradually shifting their focus from pure fiat assets to digital assets. This not only helps hedge against currency devaluation due to inflation but also provides additional buffer space for reserves backing their stablecoins during long-term crypto bull markets, thereby enhancing the resilience of the entire financial ecosystem.
Gold Reserves Expand Simultaneously Amid S&P Downgrade Shadows and Asset Diversification
In addition to Bitcoin, often called “digital gold,” Tether is also aggressively expanding into physical hard assets. According to financial disclosures, Tether purchased 26 tons of gold in Q3 2025, a quarter’s acquisition volume that even surpasses many national central banks, bringing its total physical gold holdings to 116 tons. This data places Tether among the top 30 global gold holders and the largest non-sovereign (private) gold holder worldwide.
Currently, Tether’s reserve portfolio consists of U.S. Treasuries, Bitcoin, and gold. These three assets contributed significant profits in the first half of 2025. However, this highly concentrated asset structure has also attracted the attention of rating agencies. S&P Global downgraded USDT’s stablecoin rating from “Restricted” to “Weak” last December due to transparency and concentration risks, marking the lowest of its five rating levels.
Further Reading
S&P Downgrades Tether to Weak: 24% of Reserves Are Highly Volatile, Tether Strongly Responds
Despite scrutiny from rating agencies and warnings from industry insiders like former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, Tether seems more inclined to counter systemic risks in traditional finance through diversification into physical and digital assets. In addition to gold and coin investments, Tether also announced reinvesting profits into the gold supply chain, including mining, refining, and trading.
However, not all operations are smooth sailing. To optimize energy costs and profit structure, Tether announced in November the closure of its Bitcoin mining operations in Latin America. Due to the inability to secure competitive electricity prices in Uruguay, the company decisively terminated local mining activities and redirected resources toward asset management and capital allocation. This flexible resource management reflects the company’s strategy of expanding reserves while actively streamlining unprofitable peripheral businesses.
The Corporate Land Grab War Heats Up, Digital Asset Allocation Becomes the Main Theme of 2026
Tether’s acquisitions at the end of 2025 occurred against the backdrop of a “land grab movement” among global corporations competing to buy Bitcoin. Although the market retreated at year-end, with Bitcoin falling below 90,000 and oscillating between 88,000 and 90,000, large institutions’ willingness to increase holdings remained strong.
In addition to Tether, leading holder Strategy also purchased 1,229 BTC during the same period, with an average cost of about 88,568 USD, expanding its total holdings to an astonishing 672,497 BTC. Japanese listed company Metaplanet also resumed purchasing in Q4 2025, adding 4,279 BTC, with a total value exceeding 3 billion USD. These actions collectively show that large enterprises now view Bitcoin as a core reserve asset to hedge against overall economic uncertainties.
As 2026 begins, Tether’s 96,000 BTC treasury has become an unshakable asset barrier among stablecoin issuers. This not only consolidates its dominant position in the global crypto ecosystem but also provides ongoing institutional confidence support to the market.
In the future, Tether’s asset management strategy will continue to attract close attention, especially as $USDT ’s circulation volume has surpassed 140 billion USD. How to balance high transparency requirements with high-yield allocations will be a long-term challenge for Paolo Ardoino and his team.
