Tether now owns $2.8 billion worth of bitcoin after recent $380 million buy

Stablecoin issuer Tether bought another $380 million of bitcoin at the end of last quarter, bringing its total holdings to 66,465 BTC -0.37% ($2.8 billion).

Tether began purchasing bitcoin in September 2022 with an initial buy of 33,980 BTC. Since then, the company has consistently acquired bitcoin every quarter. Its second-largest purchase was in March 2023 when it bought 15,915 BTC. The most recent purchase of 8,888 BTC, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, stands as Tether's third largest to date, according to blockchain data.

Tether first disclosed its bitcoin holdings in May 2023 as part of its first-quarter attestation report for that year.

While Tether hasn't officially revealed its bitcoin addresses, 21.co Research Analyst Tom Wan identified an address, in August last year, that he estimated belonged to Tether. The Block confirmed with a source at the time that it was indeed Tether's address, positioning the company as the 11th-largest bitcoin holder. Tether continues to maintain this ranking with its latest purchases.

Tether has previously said it would regularly invest a portion of its profits in bitcoin as it shifts its stablecoin reserves toward crypto and away from U.S. government debt. When reached for comment, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reiterated that the company announced last year its interest in purchasing bitcoin with up to 15% of its profits on a quarterly basis.

Tether, a bitcoin bull

Besides its direct investments in bitcoin, Tether is also active in the bitcoin mining and energy production space.

In November, Tether committed to investing $500 million over the next six months, involving the construction of its bitcoin mining facilities and taking stakes in other companies. At the time, the company also provided debt financing of up to $610 million to the publicly traded bitcoin mining company Northern Data AG, following its acquisition of shares in the company in September.

Tether's primary business is running the USDT stablecoin, which helped it generate $3.2 billion worth of excess reserves as of Sept. 30, 2023 — the figure was disclosed in the firm's third-quarter attestation report published in October. Tether's fourth quarter 2023 attestation report is expected to be released in the coming weeks.