Tether Closes 2025 With Another 8,888 Bitcoin Purchase, Pushing Holdings Past 96,000 BTC

Stablecoin Giant Deepens Long-Term Bitcoin Strategy as Reserves, Profits, and Hard Assets Expand

TL;DR

• Tether added 8,888 BTC in late December, bringing total Bitcoin holdings above 96,000 BTC, worth roughly $8.4 billion at current crypto price levels.
• The purchase, valued near $780 million, aligns with Tether’s policy of allocating up to 15% of operating profits to Bitcoin each quarter.
• Bitcoin now stands alongside U.S. Treasuries and gold as a core reserve asset, reinforcing Tether’s long-term balance sheet strategy.

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Tether ended 2025 by adding another precisely sized Bitcoin tranche to its balance sheet, purchasing 8,888 BTC in the final days of December and reinforcing a strategy that has become increasingly deliberate over the past three years. The acquisition, disclosed at the start of January, was valued at roughly $780 million at the time of execution and pushed the stablecoin issuer’s total Bitcoin holdings beyond 96,000 BTC. At prevailing crypto price levels, that position is estimated to be worth about $8.4 billion, translating into roughly $3.5 billion in unrealized gains. The repeated use of the same 8,888 BTC figure—marking the third such purchase in 2025 alone—has underscored the methodical nature of Tether’s accumulation rather than any attempt at short-term market timing tied to shifts in the crypto price index or daily volatility.

The latest purchase further cements Tether’s status as one of the largest known Bitcoin holders globally, with its primary wallet ranking among the top five by balance and placing the company near the top of corporate Bitcoin treasuries tracked publicly. This growing exposure stems from a policy introduced in September 2022, under which Tether committed to allocating up to 15% of its net realized operating profits to Bitcoin purchases each quarter. By the close of 2025, that approach had transformed Bitcoin from a peripheral hedge into a structural reserve asset, positioned alongside U.S. Treasuries and gold within a balance sheet designed to withstand macro volatility across both traditional and digital markets. Executives have consistently framed Bitcoin as a long-term store of value, distancing the strategy from short-term views tied to the coin market cap of individual assets or cyclical price swings.

Financial capacity has played a key role in enabling that strategy. Tether reported profits exceeding $10 billion over the first nine months of 2025, providing ample internal capital to fund large-scale Bitcoin purchases without compromising its ability to back circulating USDT. By the end of September, USDT supply had climbed above $174 billion, primarily supported by Treasury holdings, while Bitcoin’s share of reserves continued to grow steadily. The company’s appetite for hard assets extended beyond digital currency as well, highlighted by the acquisition of 26 tons of gold during the third quarter—an amount that surpassed reported central bank purchases over the same period. Together, these moves signal a reserve model increasingly anchored in scarce, non-sovereign assets rather than purely cash-equivalent instruments.

Market observers have noted that Tether’s repeated, formula-driven Bitcoin buys send a clear signal about intent. The consistent sizing of quarterly purchases suggests disciplined reserve engineering rather than reactive positioning based on short-term sentiment, even as broader crypto price conditions fluctuate. While Tether’s Bitcoin balance has seen occasional on-chain movements in the past that sparked speculation about sales, company leadership has rejected those interpretations, maintaining that the long-term accumulation thesis remains intact. As stablecoin issuers grow larger and more systemically relevant, Tether’s expanding Bitcoin position is reshaping assumptions about who holds meaningful exposure to the asset and how reserve strategies may evolve as the crypto price index and overall coin market cap continue to mature.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.