Tether earns $1.5B in Q3 as excess reserves near double to $7.95B

Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the third quarter of 2026, while excess reserves nearly doubled to $7.95 billion from $4.1 billion at the end of Q2. The report is dated Oct. 30; the figures are as of Sept. 30.

Details

Assets backing USDT stood at $191.45 billion at the end of September against $183.5 billion in liabilities. The gap is the excess reserve, about 4.3% of liabilities, according to crypto.news. Nine-month profit comes to roughly $4.5 billion. USDT in circulation barely moved and sits near $184 billion.

The core of the reserves is U.S. Treasuries: $132.4 billion in direct and indirect holdings. The portfolio also includes $19.08 billion in physical gold and $8.37 billion in bitcoin, valued at $83,621.23 per coin, crypto.news reports. The attestation was prepared by the accounting firm BDO.

CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the company's statement: "Our responsibility is to make sure USD₮ remains dependable when people need it most, including when markets and financial systems come under pressure."

What this means for the market

A larger buffer matters for judging the safety of the largest stablecoin: the more assets above liabilities, the more room there is to absorb heavy redemptions. The reserves still contain volatile assets, gold and bitcoin, so the value of the cushion depends on their prices.

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