Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin USDT, announced a first-quarter net profit of $1.04 billion for 2026. The company's excess reserves reached a record $8.23 billion, with total assets nearing $192 billion against liabilities of about $183.5 billion. Reserves include significant holdings in U.S. Treasuries, gold, and bitcoin.
Tether disclosed its first-quarter results on Friday, reporting $1.04 billion in net profit amid high volatility in the crypto market. Excess reserves climbed from $6.3 billion at the end of 2025 to $8.23 billion, supported by profits and investments in short-duration, high-quality liquid instruments. The company holds roughly $141 billion in direct and indirect U.S. Treasury exposure, making it the 17th-largest global holder, ahead of countries like Taiwan and Israel. Additional reserves comprise about $20 billion in physical gold and $7 billion in bitcoin, according to the attestation prepared by accounting firm BDO. Tether also confirmed it has begun a formal audit process, as first reported by Decrypt on May 1, 2026. USDT's circulating supply stayed stable at around $183 billion as of March 31, though CEO Paolo Ardoino noted on X that it has since grown by more than $5 billion into April. Tether's user base hit an all-time high of 570 million in the quarter, driven by demand in emerging markets for international payments and savings. In Latin America, stablecoins made up 40% of crypto purchases in 2025, per a Bitso report. Stablecoins are gaining use in Africa for low-cost remittances, former UN official Vera Songwe said at the World Economic Forum in January, helping preserve value amid high inflation. However, the Financial Stability Board warned in its 2025 report that dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDT could risk currency substitution in emerging economies.
