According to a post by CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether purchased 8,888 Bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing its holdings to over 96,000 BTC.
The acquisition extends Tether's successful strategy of allocating 15% of its quarterly profits to Bitcoin.
If USDT debt continues to grow and short-term interest rates remain high enough to sustain rising interest income, this policy could convert stablecoin revenues into regular spot demand for BTC.
The same selection also expands mark-to-market within the reserve stack built to meet redemptions.
This issue has become more central to ratings and regulatory oversight.
How Tether’s Reserve Strategy Turns Stablecoin Growth into Overall Exposure
The latest point-in-time reservation snapshot available in Tether's public report is the BDO Guarantee for the period ending September 30, 2025.
Under Tether's Q3 2025 guarantee from BDO, the company reported $181.223 billion in reserves against $174.445 billion in debt, leaving $6.778 billion in excess reserves.
| Project (September 30, 2025) | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| total reserves | $181,223 billion |
| Total debt | $174.445 billion |
| Excess reserve (buffer) | $6.778 billion |
| US Treasury bill | 112,417 million dollars |
| Reverse repo (overnight + term) | ~$21.048 billion |
| money market funds | $6.41 billion |
| gold (precious metal) | $12.921 billion |
| Bitcoin | $9.856 billion |
| secured loan | $14.64 billion |
| Other investments | $3.874 billion |
In this table, Tether values its Bitcoin position using the BTC reference price of $114,160 as of the timestamp, resulting in a BTC line of $9.856 billion.
This means that as of September 30, approximately 86,335 BTC ($9.856 billion divided by $114,160) was held, and Bitcoin accounted for approximately 5.4% of total reserves at the time.
Between that proven snapshot and the end of the year, publicly tracked wallet activity and Ardoino's Q4 numbers provide a rough bridge.
According to Arcam data cited in the market report, Arcam Label's on-chain report circulating in early November showed approximately 961 BTC moved to Tether Label's reserve wallet, bringing its holdings to approximately 87,296 BTC at that time.
Adding the purchase amount of 8,888.8888888 BTC cited by Ardoino gives us approximately 96,184 BTC, consistent with the “over 96,000 BTC” framework.
Looking ahead, the implication is that Tether's Bitcoin accumulation is no longer framed as a discretionary timing, but as a formula tied to profitability.
Profitability depends on the size and yield of its reserve assets.
In its own disclosure of its 2025 results, Tether said it had record exposure to U.S. Treasuries totaling about $135 billion through direct and indirect holdings.
It also pointed out that the increase in USDT supply is accelerating.
This design creates a rate channel to the demand for cryptocurrencies.
How Tether’s Reserve Model Mechanically Directs Treasury Yields to Bitcoin Demand
Rising T-bill and repo yields may increase net interest income, which mechanically increases the amount of dollars allocated to BTC under the 15% policy.
Even if the token supply continues to grow, low yields will compress its capacity.
To translate the policy into a range that can be tracked quarterly, a simple rule of thumb is that BTC purchased quarterly is equal to 15% of quarterly profit divided by BTC price.
Using the profit and price range example:
| quarterly profit | 15% allocation | BTC price | Quarterly Implied BTC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 billion dollars | $450 million | $75,000 | ~6,000BTC |
| 3 billion dollars | $450 million | $100,000 | ~4,500 BTC |
| 3 billion dollars | $450 million | $150,000 | ~3,000BTC |
| 5 billion dollars | $750 million | $100,000 | ~7,500BTC |
| 5 billion dollars | $750 million | $150,000 | ~5,000BTC |
These scenarios frame how stablecoin issuers can become repeat players at a significant scale in the BTC market structure without issuing equity or engaging in debt-financed government bond trading.
It also reveals why interest rates and USDT growth are more important than total purchases in a single quarter.
The same bridge that articulates purchasing power translates reserve volatility into dollars.
As of September 30th, the excess reserve buffer was $6.778 billion and Bitcoin sleeve was $9.856 billion.
Simplifying and keeping everything else equal, a 30% drawdown on the BTC sleeve would reduce the value of the reserve by about $3 billion, leaving a buffer but narrower.
A 50% drawdown would be a hit of about $4.9 billion, consuming much of the buffer.
The 80% drawdown would amount to about $7.9 billion, and that factor alone would exceed the September 30 buffer.
In reality, reserves are multiple assets, and the dynamics of liabilities become important during waves of redemptions.
Still, arithmetic operations make it easier to quantify tradeoffs. By allocating a portion of your reserves to BTC, you can increase upside participation while placing more emphasis on liquidity, disclosure, and how quickly losses interact with redemption demand.
This emphasis is also beginning to appear in third-party evaluations.
In late November 2025, S&P lowered Tether's rating to 5 (weak), citing high risk in reserve assets such as Bitcoin and gold and a persistent disclosure gap.
Tether disputed that characterization.
Tether's reserve strategy attracts attention due to rating pressure
For market participants, the ratings story creates a clear point of watch for the next proof of whether Bitcoin's share rises further and whether there are significant changes in the composition and size of categories that attract scrutiny, such as collateralized loans and other investments.
The macro context is also important, as stablecoins are now being discussed on the same level as broader financial plumbing.
In a departmental paper published in December 2025, the IMF said stablecoin issuance has doubled in the past two years.
The IMF said it also flagged the macro-financial risks associated with the volatility of reserve assets and flows, as well as the benefits of payment efficiency.
As this discussion moves towards oversight, reserve composition and reserve reporting transparency will become part of the product's risk profile, rather than just a footnote in the cryptocurrency market.
On the demand side of Bitcoin, flows are becoming more multi-channel.
Net flows for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were uneven towards the end of the year, according to Farside Investors' daily flow dashboard.
This includes days with significant declines (such as approximately -$175.3 million on December 24 and approximately -$348.1 million on December 31) and days with significant increases (such as approximately +$355.1 million on December 30).
Standard Chartered also lowered its forecast for the end of 2026 to $150,000, pushing the $500,000 level by 2030, while keeping Bitcoin's driving force centered on ETF purchases.
If ETFs remain a significant marginal flow and Tether continues to buy based on profit-based rules, Bitcoin tape could become even more sensitive to whether these two sources offset each other during the risk-off window.
Tether has yet to publish its Q4 2025 guarantee report, which includes an updated reserve breakdown and current Bitcoin valuation.
