Tether has reported $1.5 billion in third-quarter net operating profit while rebuilding its excess reserves to nearly $8 billion, almost twice the cushion it held three months earlier.
Summary
- Excess reserves reached $7.95 billion against $183.50 billion in total liabilities at September’s end.
- Direct and indirect U.S. Treasury bill holdings totaled $132.4 billion, according to Tether.
- Reserves included $19.08 billion in physical gold and $8.37 billion in Bitcoin.
- Nine-month operating profit reached $4.5 billion, with Treasury bills and reverse repos providing most income.
Tether’s Oct. 30 announcement put total reserve assets at $191.45 billion as of Sep. 30. BDO prepared the accompanying attestation covering the issuer’s financial figures and assets backing its dollar-linked tokens.
The reserve cushion grew even though operating earnings matched the previous quarter and USDT issuance remained broadly steady near $184 billion across the first nine months of 2026.
Tether rebuilds its cushion after Q2 decline
At the end of June, Tether held $187.75 billion in assets against $183.64 billion in liabilities, leaving $4.11 billion in excess reserves, as crypto.news previously reported in its second-quarter earnings coverage.
By September’s close, assets had risen by roughly $3.7 billion while liabilities had edged lower. The resulting $7.95 billion buffer was approximately 94% above June’s level, based on the reported figures.
Calculated against total liabilities, the latest cushion represented around 4.34%, compared with approximately 2.24% three months earlier. Assets therefore stood near $104.34 for every $100 in liabilities at quarter-end.
“Our responsibility is to make sure USD₮ remains dependable when people need it most,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the announcement.
Ardoino described liquidity for redemptions and financial resources to support infrastructure as priorities for the company’s reserve strategy.
The accompanying financial report records $183.47 billion in liabilities related to issued digital tokens. Its accounting policies classify those tokens as obligations repayable on demand at their contractual redemption value.
Treasury bills dominate reserves alongside gold and Bitcoin
The underlying reserve report lists $122.84 billion in directly held U.S. Treasury bills, with a weighted average maturity below 90 days.
Overnight reverse repurchase agreements accounted for $9.52 billion, while term reverse repos totaled $7.18 billion. Including small balances of non-U.S. Treasury bills and bank deposits, the cash, cash-equivalent and short-term deposit category reached $139.58 billion.
Calculated from the report, this category represented approximately 72.9% of total reserves.
Outside those instruments, Tether held $19.08 billion in precious metals, identified as physical gold bars meeting London Bullion Market Association standards. Bitcoin holdings were valued at $8.37 billion using a Sep. 30 price of $83,621.23 per coin.
Gold and Bitcoin together accounted for $27.45 billion, or roughly 14.3% of reserve assets. Earlier coverage of Tether’s reserve asset composition recorded a combined $24.64 billion for those categories at June’s close.
The September report values both holdings at fair value, meaning their reported dollar amounts incorporate market prices at the reporting date.
Secured loans totaled $14.18 billion, followed by $6 billion in other investments, $4.18 billion in public equities and $63.9 million in corporate bonds. Tether describes the loans as overcollateralized, with margin calls and liquidation mechanisms designed to maintain collateral coverage.
Operating profit differs from the reported financial result
Treasury bills and reverse repos supplied most of Tether’s operating income during the first nine months, according to the company.
Its separate equity reconciliation records a $1.66 billion financial result for January through September and $519 million in net capital outflows. Opening equity of $6.81 billion consequently became $7.95 billion at September’s end.
The $4.5 billion operating profit announced for the same period is therefore a different measure from the financial result shown in that reconciliation.
For comparison, Circle’s second-quarter figures included $668 million in reserve income and $48 million in net income. The USDC issuer reported $701 million in total revenue and reserve income, alongside $412 million in distribution, transaction and other costs.
Circle attributed 5% annual growth in reserve income to a 25% rise in average USDC circulation, partly offset by a 66-basis-point drop in its reserve return rate.
Tether’s September report includes another accounting development. Its footnote states that shareholders approved audited 2025 financial statements on Aug. 13, 2026. Management aligned the comparative figures and opening equity with those statements, including changes involving subsequent events and accounting policies.
