Tether, the crypto firm behind the USDT (USDT) stablecoin, has added about $1 billion worth in bitcoin (BTC) to its reserves, bringing holdings to $9.7 billion as the supply of its flagship stablecoin rose to nearly $175 billion.
Blockchain data by Arkham Intelligence shows that the address tagged as “Tether: Bitcoin Reserves” received 8,889 BTC from a wallet of Bitfinex, the crypto exchange closely associated with Tether. The address currently holds $9.7 billion in BTC based on the current price of about $113,000, per Arkham.
The latest maneuver fits into a pattern of Tether accumulating the largest cryptocurrency, alongside with gold, adding to its BTC stash at the end of quarters. Similar transactions happened at the end of March, December and last September, Arkham data shows. In June, the firm seeded more than 1.4 billion in BTC to Twenty One Capital (XXI), the bitcoin treasury firm led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers with Tether being a lead investor, blockchain data showed, with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino dismissing rumors of selling BTC for gold.
Tether reported $8.9 billion in BTC reserves as of the end of June, according to its second-quarter attestation, with the next report expected in late October with its updated BTC holdings.
In the meantime, Tether's USDT token has swelled to a $174.6 billion supply, up 10.7% through the last quarter, CoinGecko data shows, continuing to dominate among the red-hot stablecoin sector. The firm, which previously focused its efforts to serve emerging markets where U.S. dollar access is limited, formally entered the U.S. domestic market by establishing a local branch led by former White House crypto advisor Bo Hines and developing a separate stablecoin dubbed USAT under federal regulatory guidelines.
Read more: Tether and Circle Are ‘Printing Money’ but Competition Is Coming: Wormhole Co-Founder
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