Tether, the company behind the world’s most widely used stablecoin, now holds about 150,000 Bitcoin worth more than $11.5 billion, CEO Paolo Ardoino said during his keynote at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano on November 3. That is roughly 50,000 BTC more than the holdings implied by the company’s latest reserve report.
“We have give or take 150,000 bitcoin ourselves. It’s not much, but it’s honest work,” Ardoino said, per CoinDesk.
Tether’s 150,000 Bitcoin: Where the Extra Coins Sit
The number is notably higher than Tether’s official disclosures. The company’s Q3 2026 reserve report, attested by accounting firm BDO, lists $8.37 billion in bitcoin valued at $83,621.23 per coin — implying about 100,060 BTC, up roughly 1,130 coins from June. Earlier in 2026, disclosures put holdings between 96,000 and 100,000 BTC.
Ardoino did not say where the additional coins are held or when Tether acquired them. Per CoinDesk, holdings outside USDT reserves — such as Tether’s proprietary investments, which are funded from excess capital and profits and kept separate from the reserves backing the dollar-pegged stablecoin — would not appear in the reserve report. The figure does not necessarily indicate a new 50,000 BTC purchase.
15% Profit Policy Funds Tether’s Bitcoin Accumulation
Tether has been buying bitcoin since May 2023, when it adopted a policy of directing up to 15% of its quarterly net profits into BTC. The jump from the ~100,000 range to roughly 150,000 suggests the program accelerated rather than slowed this year, including a 8,888 BTC purchase worth about $780 million on December 31, 2025, per public records.
Meanwhile, Tether’s core collateral remains heavily anchored in U.S. Treasuries: the Q3 attestation showed about $132.4 billion in U.S. Treasury securities (including repurchase agreements) and $7.95 billion in excess reserves. Bitcoin is bought with profits, not the funds backing USDT — which, the company says, keeps the stablecoin’s peg insulated from crypto volatility.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino (Credits: CoinDesk)
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Source: CoinDesk — read the full story there.
