Tether Reports $1.5 Billion Quarterly Profit as Its Reserve Cushion Halves

Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin, reported roughly $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter, CoinDesk reported, driven by returns on its United States Treasury and repurchase-agreement holdings. USDT circulating supply stands near $183.2 billion by DeFiLlama's count, the dominant share of a $306.8 billion stablecoin market.

The more consequential number is the buffer. Tether held about $187.75 billion in assets against $183.64 billion in liabilities as of June 30, leaving $4.11 billion in excess reserves. That buffer is down from just over $8.23 billion three months earlier, a decline of roughly half. The two framings circulating on Wednesday, that the surplus "tops $4.1 billion" and that the buffer "fell by half," are both accurate and describe the same figure. The company also added physical gold and bitcoin, lifting gold holdings to about 146.2 metric tons and its bitcoin holdings toward 99,000 coins, while Cointelegraph noted the gold expansion above 146 tons.

The contrast is what matters. A stablecoin issuer earning Treasury-bill yields on a rapidly growing float is highly profitable, but a shrinking equity cushion relative to liabilities is the metric that matters for holders who treat USDT as a dollar. Part of the gold-holding value decline came from a roughly 15% drop in the gold price over the quarter rather than sales.