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Tether holds 150,000 bitcoin worth $11.5 billion, CEO Paolo Ardoino says
Developed over time first seen 17 hours ago
Tether holds about 150,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $11.5 billion at the price cited on 3 November, chief executive Paolo Ardoino said during a speech at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano. His estimate is about 50,000 coins higher than the roughly 100,060 bitcoin implied by Tether International’s latest report on the assets backing its USDT stablecoin. Ardoino did not say where the additional coins are held or when they were acquired, so the difference does not establish that Tether recently bought 50,000 bitcoin.
The report values bitcoin in USDT reserves at $8.37 billion as of 30 September. It implies an increase of about 1,130 coins since the end of June; most of the rise in their reported dollar value reflected a higher bitcoin price at the September reporting date. Tether has said that investments funded from profits are kept separate from USDT reserves, which could account for some or all of the gap, but Ardoino did not confirm that explanation. The company reported $191.45 billion in reserve assets and $183.50 billion in liabilities at the end of September.
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In short
- Ardoino says Tether holds about 150,000 bitcoin, valued at roughly $11.5 billion.
- The figure is about 50,000 coins above the amount implied by its latest USDT reserve report.
- Tether has not explained where the additional coins are held or when it acquired them.
How this story developed
- 4 hours ago Tether holds about 150,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $11.5 billion at the price cited on 3 November, chief executive Paolo Ardoino said during a speech at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano.
Full account
Tether holds about 150,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $11.5 billion at the price cited when chief executive Paolo Ardoino disclosed the figure, according to CoinDesk. The total is substantially larger than the bitcoin position shown in the latest report on the reserves backing Tether’s USDT stablecoin. Ardoino did not say where the additional coins are held or when they were acquired.
The difference appears to turn on what is being counted. CoinDesk calculated that Tether’s reserve report for 30 September 2026 recorded about 100,060 bitcoin, valued at $8.37 billion at that date. That leaves a gap of roughly 50,000 coins against Ardoino’s company-wide figure. Bitcoin held elsewhere in Tether’s business would not necessarily appear among the assets backing USDT, but the company has not specified whether such holdings account for the gap. The disclosure therefore does not establish that Tether recently bought another 50,000 bitcoin.
Tether’s 30 October statement focused on the strength of its USDT reserves. It said reserve assets stood at $191.5 billion at the end of September, against liabilities of $183.5 billion, leaving an excess of $7.95 billion. The company reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the third quarter and $4.5 billion for the first nine months of 2026. It said US Treasury bills and reverse repurchase agreements supplied most of that income, while direct and indirect Treasury bill holdings totalled $132.4 billion. These figures describe the reported reserve position; they do not, by themselves, explain the full bitcoin total cited by Ardoino.
Tether has had a stated policy of buying bitcoin with profits since May 2023. At the time, it said it would regularly allocate up to 15% of realised net operating profits to purchases and expected the bitcoin in its reserves to remain within its shareholder capital cushion. It also said it would retain control of the private keys to its holdings. That policy gives context to the growth of Tether’s bitcoin position, although it does not identify where every coin in Ardoino’s latest total sits. The distinction matters because USDT users rely on the assets reported as backing the token, while a broader company holding can include investments outside those reserves. Bitcoin’s market price also changes the dollar value of either position without changing the number of coins held.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
CoinDesk centres on the roughly 50,000-bitcoin gap between Ardoino’s company-wide statement and the reported USDT reserve holding, and says its location remains unspecified. Tether’s October 2026 announcement emphasises profits, liquid assets and its reserve surplus, without addressing that gap. Tether’s May 2023 announcement explains its bitcoin purchasing policy rather than the composition of its 2026 holdings.