Tether CEO Details USDT Stablecoin Reserves
Tether has revealed its massive reserves of $100 billion in bonds, over 82,000 BTC and 48.3 tons of gold to back its $120 billion USDT in circulation.
At the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino provided a photo of the reserves backing the USDT stablecoin.
JUST IN : Tether CEO confirms their reserves hold a total of 82,454 BTC and 48.3 tons of gold. 💰📈 #Tether #Bitcoin @LuganoPlanB pic.twitter.com/QRCi1hqMO2
— Tran Hung (@spaftu) October 26, 2024
Specifically, the CEO of Tether revealed that this stablecoin "giant" holds 82,454 BTC valued at about 5.5 billion USD at the time of announcement and reserves more than 48.3 tons of gold. However, this photo immediately raised many questions when many people realized that the total value of BTC and gold that Tether announced was only about 8.5 billion USD, a number too small to guarantee the 120 billion USD capitalization of the stablecoin USDT circulating on the market.
Interesting - tether is holding nearly $4.2bn in gold yet XAUt's market cap is only $680m
USDT must be partially gold backed
The BTC is worth $5bn
Ironic: USDT is more sound money then the USD itself
$8.5bn in real assets backing $120bn USDT
7% backed, 7% more than the USD!
— Steve Wood (@SteveWoodUS) October 27, 2024
Immediately, Ardoino clarified that USDT's real reserves include $100 billion in US Treasury bills, in addition to more than 82k BTC and over 48 tons of gold as stated in his speech at the Plan ₿ Forum. Thanks to its investment strategy in US Treasury bills, Tether has also become the 18th largest holder of US Treasury bills in the world, and brought the company $5.2 billion in profits in the first half of 2024.
Since I see a lot of confusion in this thread, let me clarify that:
- Tether has ~100B in US treasuries.
- Plus it has 82k+ BTC and 48T+ of gold.
— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) October 27, 2024
Some people commented that it is great that Tether has gold to back USDT, which is even better than the actual USD, which stopped being backed by gold in the 1970s. However, some other users are curious about the status of Tether's reserves, especially how the company stores the gold and whether it is audited. A user on X asked whether the gold in Tether's reserves is actual bullion or derivatives like ETFs and options.
Hi, those 48 tons of gold, that's great as it gives stability to USDT.
May I ask, 48 tons of gold in which form?
Is it allocated bullion? If yes, where is it vaulted? Is it audited?
Or is it gold derivatives? like e.g. ETFs shares? Unallocated account? Futures/swaps/options?…
— Kinesis Gold (@KinesisGold) October 27, 2024
The above doubts of users are completely understandable when Tether has not yet conducted a comprehensive audit to prove its announcements. Although CTO Paolo Ardoino shared with Fox Business that they would love to be audited by the "Big Four", the road to this transparency is still "thorny". Top auditing firms remain hesitant due to concerns that working with Tether could affect their reputation due to the legal issues and complexities involved in auditing a stablecoin like USDT.
🚨JUST IN: 'BIG FOUR' ACCOUNTING FIRMS ARE SCARED TO WORK WITH @TETHER_TO AMID REPUTATIONAL FEARS SAYS CEO
— BSCN Headlines (@BSCNheadlines) April 19, 2024
In 2021, Tether was also fined a total of $61 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the New York state government for violations in the USDT stablecoin collateralization.
Tether has recently been in the spotlight after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that anonymous sources revealed an ongoing US government investigation into the stablecoin issuer. Paolo Ardoino quickly dismissed these claims, claiming that the WSJ was simply rehashing old information.
Despite the transparency concerns, Tether remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, accounting for nearly 70% of the stablecoin segment. USDT circulation continues to rise to record highs, about 3.5 times larger than its second-place competitor, USDC, which currently has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion.
