Tether adds 951 BTC to reserves as USDT ‘quasi-sovereign’ balance sheet swells

USDT issuer Tether quietly turned its Bitcoin reserve wallet into a $7.2b war chest, built by funneling 15% of profits into BTC as USDT’s balance sheet goes quasi-sovereign.

Tether has added another 951 BTC, worth roughly $70.47m, to its dedicated Bitcoin reserve address, lifting the wallet to 97,141 BTC (about $7.2b) and cementing USDT’s “quasi-sovereign” profile in crypto markets.

According to on-chain analyst Ember, “Tether’s BTC reserve address recently withdrew 951 BTC ($70.47M) from Bitfinex, acquired in Q1 2026 using 15% of profits,” with the position now sitting on an estimated $2.175b in unrealized gains at an average cost of around $51,312 per coin.

That reserve wallet now ranks as the fifth-largest Bitcoin address globally, underscoring how the issuer of USDT has quietly become one of the market’s biggest direct BTC holders.

Tether first disclosed in 2023 that it would “allocate up to 15% of net realized operating profits to Bitcoin as part of reserve diversification,” a policy it has reiterated in multiple updates as it steadily increased its stack.

In a previous crypto.news story, the company’s Q4 2023 attestation showed it made $2.8b in net profits, driven partly by appreciation in its Bitcoin and gold holdings, while also growing excess reserves above $5b.

Subsequent reporting highlighted Tether buying 8,888 BTC tranches through 2024 and 2025, pushing holdings beyond 96,000 BTC even before the latest move, as USDT supply — tracked on the crypto.news USDT price page — expanded alongside record Treasury-bill income.

The latest 951 BTC withdrawal is therefore less about another bullish Bitcoin bet and more about fortifying USDT as a dollar-pegged instrument with its own hard-asset war chest that can buffer redemptions and market stress.

While the transaction technically increases BTC exposure, the crucial story is USDT’s balance sheet and growing resemblance to a private-sector reserve manager whose decisions can sway crypto liquidity and risk sentiment.

As crypto.news has reported on the rise of regulated stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, stablecoin issuers sit at the center of flows between traditional Treasuries, tokenized commodities and on-chain lending markets, making reserve composition a key macro variable rather than a footnote.

If Tether continues to channel double-digit billions in annual profits into Bitcoin and other hard assets, each quarterly rebalance will not only move spot markets, but also shape how regulators, banks and trading venues assess the quality and resilience of USDT’s backing.