Tether Reportedly Bought 8.9K Bitcoin for $380M, Remaining 11th-Largest BTC Holder
The stablecoin issuer announced in May 2023 that it would start buying bitcoin in an effort to diversify the backing of its USDT stablecoin.
Updated Mar 8, 2024 at 8:10 p.m. UTC
In an effort to shift away from cash and cash-like assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds backing its USDT stablecoin, Tether announced in May 2023 that it would start allocating as much as 15% of its profits into bitcoin. USDT is the world's largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of over $95 billion.
In its latest attestation report, Tether held $72.6 billion in government bonds and $1.7 billion in bitcoin, among other allocations.
The company has long been under the microscope for the quality of its assets, but Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, whose firm acts as a custodian for Tether, this week reassured skeptics that its holdings are legit.
The Switzerland-based company first purchased bitcoin in September 2022.