Tether posts $1.5B Q2 profit as USDT supply tops $184B

Tether reported approximately $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter, a nearly 50 percent increase from Q1, as USDT supply rose to $184.6 billion and gold reserves expanded to more than 146 metric tons.

"These results show that Tether has the liquidity, discipline and scale to remain resilient across market cycles while continuing to serve hundreds of millions of users around the world," CEO Paolo Ardoino said.

The BDO attestation, published Friday, shows total assets of $187.75 billion against liabilities of $183.64 billion, leaving excess reserves of $4.11 billion — down from a record $8.23 billion in Q1. Tether cut secured lending by $2.38 billion, or 15 percent, and added 14 metric tons of physical gold during the quarter. USDT in circulation rose about $446 million from the end of March, extending the token's share of the global stablecoin market to more than 60 percent.

The reserve buffer decline comes as Tether's Big Four audit with KPMG continues, with the company having signed the auditor on March 24. The Q1 report disclosed $141 billion in Treasury bills and roughly $20 billion in gold, but Friday's release omitted dollar figures for individual asset classes, listing gold only as a tonnage count.

The asset side of Tether's balance sheet fell about $4 billion during the quarter to $187.75 billion, while token liabilities barely moved. Add the $1.5 billion earned during the period, and the gap implies roughly $5.6 billion of unrealized losses or outflows. Tether entered April holding about $20 billion in gold and $7 billion in Bitcoin, both of which saw sharp price swings during the quarter.

The company's language also shifted. The Q1 release reported "net profit," while Friday's report uses "net operating profit" — a measure that strips out mark-to-market swings on gold and Bitcoin holdings. Tether's Bitcoin position ended the quarter at approximately $5.8 billion.

Tether said it added more than 30 million users globally during the quarter while continuing work on its Big Four audit and expanding its technology and financial infrastructure ecosystem. The company's US Treasury holdings remain the core of its reserve portfolio, described as a majority share of reserves, though no dollar figure was attached in the latest report.

Ardoino contrasted Tether's strategy with what he described as the financial industry's focus on soaring AI stock valuations, saying the company is instead investing in technologies that expand access to financial services and artificial intelligence for underserved populations.

The shrinking reserve buffer — from $8.23 billion to $4.11 billion — raises questions about the cushion protecting USDT holders, even as the token remains overcollateralized. Tether's March announcement stated the group retains earnings instead of paying out profits, so distributions cannot explain the decline, leaving asset values as the primary driver.

The audit clock is still running. Tether signed KPMG on March 24, and Friday's release says only that the process continued. Ardoino conceded pressure without sizing it, saying the assets behind part of the reserves came under direct strain during the quarter.

The transparency gap matters for the broader stablecoin market. Circle, the issuer of USDC, publishes monthly reserve reports and has maintained a similar overcollateralization posture, while Tether's quarterly attestation cadence and opaque asset-level disclosure leave investors with fewer data points to verify the backing of the largest stablecoin by market cap. As USDT's share of the global stablecoin market pushes past 60 percent, the reserve composition of the token becomes a systemic question for crypto liquidity across exchanges and DeFi protocols.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.