Tether’s Reserve Buffer Halves Despite $1.5B Quarterly Operating Profit

Tether reported $1.5 billion in second-quarter operating profit while the reserve surplus backing its fiat-denominated tokens dropped by almost 50%.

According to its Q2 2026 attestation, the stablecoin issuer held $187.75 billion in assets against $183.64 billion in liabilities as of June 30, leaving $4.11 billion in excess reserves. That compares with an $8.23 billion buffer at the end of March.

USDT issuance remained broadly stable during the quarter, with approximately $184.6 billion of tokens outstanding, up around $446 million from Q1.

Reserve Cushion Narrows

The decline highlights the difference between Tether’s operating earnings and changes in the market value of its broader investment portfolio.

Comparing the company’s first- and second-quarter equity disclosures indicates that its reported financial result deteriorated substantially during Q2, offsetting much of the income generated from Treasury bills and other short-term assets.

The filing does not provide a complete quarterly profit breakdown. However, several reserve categories, including physical gold and digital assets, are measured using market values that can fluctuate between reporting dates.

Despite the smaller buffer, Tether’s assets continued to exceed the liabilities associated with its issued tokens at the June 30 reporting point.

Gold and Bitcoin Exposure Grows

Tether added roughly 14 metric tons of physical gold during the quarter, taking its reported holdings to approximately 146.2 tons.

The value assigned to those holdings nevertheless declined to about $18.84 billion as the reference gold price used in the attestation fell between reporting dates.

Its Bitcoin position increased by approximately 1,796 BTC to 98,933 BTC. The reported value of the position fell by around $823 million to $5.8 billion, despite the additional coins.

Together, the gold and Bitcoin categories lost approximately $1.82 billion in reported value during the quarter. The movement explains part of the reserve-buffer contraction, although the available disclosures do not attribute the entire decline to those assets.

Liquid Assets Still Dominate

Cash equivalents and other short-term deposits remained Tether’s largest reserve category at $140.64 billion, representing roughly three-quarters of total assets.

The company also reduced secured loans by about $2.38 billion to $13.45 billion, lowering a reserve category that has previously drawn scrutiny over liquidity and counterparty exposure.

BDO’s assurance applies to balances recorded at a specific reporting date and is not equivalent to a full financial-statement audit. Tether said work toward a separate Big Four audit remains underway but did not provide a completion date.

The next measurable update will be Tether’s third-quarter attestation, which will show whether the excess-reserve buffer recovers by September 30.