Tether reports $1.5 billion net profit for first quarter in latest attestation report

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had a net profit of $1.5 billion in the first quarter, more than double what it reported in the previous period, according to its latest attestation report. 

"We are thrilled with the tremendous success Tether has achieved in Q1 2023, with our reserves' surplus reaching an all-time high of $2.44B," Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, said in a statement shared with The Block exclusively. "Our net profits for the quarter were $1.48B, a testament to the strength and stability of our platform."

Tether's consolidated total assets amounted to at least $81.8 billion as of May 9, while its consolidated total liabilities amounted to $79.4 billion, per the statement, reflecting excess reserves of at least $2.44 billion — an all-time high. The excess reserves are much higher than Tether's Q4 numbers of $960 million, but they include the $1.5 billion net profit in it, according to a Tether spokesperson. In the fourth quarter, Tether reported a net profit of $700 million, which wasn't included in its excess reserves then.

Tether reveals bitcoin and gold allocations for the first time

Tether included additional categories into its reserves reporting for the first time. These include bitcoin, physical gold, overnight repo, and corporate bond allocations. It holds $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and $3.3 billion worth of precious metals.

Tether said the majority of its investments, about 85%, are being held in cash, cash equivalents, and other short-term deposits. Gold and bitcoin represent around 4% and 2% of the total reserves, respectively, it added.

"We continue to monitor the risk-adjusted return on all assets within our portfolio on an ongoing basis and expect to make further changes as the overall economic environment changes and the market cycle progresses as a part of our normal, ongoing risk management processes," Ardoino said.

"Looking ahead to Q2, we have an extremely positive outlook and remain committed to transparency, which is why we have introduced new categories in the reserves' breakdown in our quarterly report to provide even greater transparency to our users," he added.

USDT total supply 

Tether's USDT is the largest stablecoin in the market, with a supply of over 83 billion tokens, according to The Block's Data Dashboard.

Updates with comment from Tether spokesperson