Tether makes record profits as its holdings of US debt reach $141 billion

The controversial but dominant backbone of the digital asset market Tether has reported an incredible $10 billion in net profits by 2025.

The results highlight a year of aggressive expansion, turning the stablecoin issuer into one of the largest private holders of US government debt in the world.

Sponsored

Sponsored

USDT $50 Billion Expansion Fuels Record Profits

Tether claims that the profits, which arise solely from its core stablecoin business, coincide with a massive $50 billion liquidity injection into the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Tether has just released its quarterly earnings report for Q4 2025.

Tether had a great year, surpassing 10B in profits.

USDT has expanded throughout the year from 50 billion, because the global demand for dollars is moving more and more outside the traditional banking rails, especially in the regions … https://t.co/RMkIvQC9uY

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino) January 30, 2026

This issuance brought the total USDT in circulation to over $186 billion. This is the second largest annual expansion in the company’s decades-long history.

The CEO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, said that USDT has grown throughout the year from 50 billion, due to the global demand for dollars that are increasingly moving outside traditional banking channels, especially in regions where financial systems are slow, fragmented or unavailable. Due to its network effect and explosive growth, USDT has become the most widely adopted social cash network in human history.

While Tether invested A $20 billion investment portfolio In sectors like artificial intelligence and biotechnology, those high-risk bets weren’t the driver of this year’s gains. Instead, earnings were a product of a longer-term environment of higher interest rates.

At the same time, Tether’s balance sheet now rivals that of major sovereign nations. The company’s total reserve assets rose to a record high of $193 billion, supported by a large exposure of $141 billion in US Treasury bonds (Direct and indirect).

Sponsored

Sponsored

This figure of $ 141 billion places Tether among the main global creditors of the US government, a fact that has impressed investors and even attracted attention from Washington.

This growth comes with an increase in systemic risk as the company still lacks an audit from one of the Big Four accountants.

As a result, critics continued to question the true fluidity of $17.4 billion in gold And $8.4 billion of Bitcoin owned by the company in times of market crises. However, the company confirms it still has more than $6.3 billion in excess reserves.

Regulatory hurdles for Tether

The financial victory is currently dominated by a growing regulatory gap. In Europe, USDT continues to operate without a license under the Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) framework.

The matter becomes more serious with the passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States, since this law made USDT “ineligible” for domestic use.

Tether is implementing a defensive maneuver to protect its US interests by launching USAT, a separate internal asset specifically designed to comply with the US Federal Reserve.

This split strategy – using USDT for global “shadow banks” and USAT for US regulated trading – signals a pivotal shift in Tether’s attempt to achieve “too big to fail” status.

USDT, despite these obstacles, continues to hold a market share of 60.5%. So far, Tether remains the undisputed leader in liquidity, even as the walls of global regulation begin to close in.