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LONDON: The world’s largest stablecoin, Tether, said on Monday (Jul 31) its assets rose 5.7 per cent to US$86.5 billion in the second quarter of 2023, while it made more than US$1 billion “operational profit”, a 30 per cent increase on the previous quarter.
Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency which aim to keep a constant value and are usually backed by traditional assets such as dollars. Tether says there is US$83.8 billion of its coin in circulation, which makes it the third largest cryptocurrency overall, according to market tracker CoinGecko.
Tether’s reserves report, signed off by accountants BDO Italia, says Tether’s assets rose to US$86.5 billion in the three months to Jun 30, 2023, up 5.7 per cent from the previous quarter and a record high, according to previous reports on its website.
Tether is a key cog in global digital asset trading, with many crypto-to-crypto trades denominated in the stablecoin.
US regulators have warned banks that stablecoin reserves could be subject to rapid outflows, for example if holders rushed to exchange such tokens back into traditional currency.
Tether’s holdings of US Treasury Bills hit US$55.8 billion, up 5.2 per cent from the end of March, while non-US Treasury Bills rose to US$62.9 million, up more than 30 per cent from the previous quarter, the report said.
Tether also counts US$115 million of corporate bonds, US$3.3 billion of precious metals, US$1.7 billion worth of bitcoin, US$5.5 billion of secured loans and US$2.4 billion of unspecified “other investments” in its holdings.
Separate to the auditor’s report, Tether said in a statement on its website that its operational profits from April to June were over US$1 billion, which it said was a 30 per cent quarterly increase, without specifying how this was calculated.
As part of a 2021 settlement with the New York Attorney General’s office, Tether agreed to provide quarterly reports on its reserves for two years. Tether said on its website that it completed this requirement earlier this year.
