Tether Books $1.5 Billion Q3 Profit as Excess Reserves Nearly Double

Stablecoin issuer Tether earned $1.5 billion in net operating profit in the third quarter of 2026, while the amount by which its assets exceed its liabilities nearly doubled to $7.95 billion, according to its latest reserves attestation.

Tether International, S.A. de C.V., the entity that issues the USD₮ dollar token, published the figures in a report. It was prepared by BDO, which Tether calls a top-five global independent accounting firm, and lists the assets that back USD₮.

The quarterly profit was in line with the second quarter. Tether put net operating profit for the first nine months of 2026 at $4.5 billion and said U.S. Treasury bills and reverse repurchase agreements again generated most of that income.

Demand for the token held up. Tether said USD₮ issuance stayed broadly steady at $184 billion through the first three quarters, even with volatile markets. At the end of June, its second-quarter attestation showed about $184.6 billion in tokens issued and a market share of over 60% of all stablecoins.

The surplus, which the company calls its reserve buffer, grew by $3.8 billion in three months, from $4.1 billion at the end of the second quarter. Reserve assets stood at $191.5 billion on September 30, most of them in liquid, short-duration instruments that Tether said allow it to meet redemptions in any market. Its direct and indirect holdings of U.S. Treasury bills amounted to $132.4 billion.

In its management assertion, Tether gave total assets of $191,451,091,374 and total liabilities of $183,496,460,904. Digital tokens issued accounted for $183,469,787,261 of those liabilities, which left assets $7,954,630,470 above what the company owed.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said: “Our responsibility is to make sure USD₮ remains dependable when people need it most, including when markets and financial systems come under pressure,”.

He added: “Generating $1.5 billion in net operating profit while maintaining nearly $8.0 billion in excess reserves gives us a strong foundation for that work. We are building Tether for the long term, with the liquidity to meet redemptions and the financial strength to support infrastructure people can rely on amidst the chaotic geopolitical environment we live in. The purpose behind our reserve strategy is to ensure we can continue to serve people when conditions become more difficult.”

Treasury paper dominates the breakdown in BDO's report. U.S. Treasury bills, whose average maturity is under 90 days on a weighted basis, were valued at $122.84 billion, and overnight reverse repurchase agreements, fully collateralized by U.S. Treasuries, at $9.52 billion.

The remaining reserves are spread across gold, bitcoin, loans and other holdings. Physical gold bars were valued at $19.08 billion, using a gold price of $4,157.41 an ounce, and bitcoin at $8.37 billion, at $83,621.23 per coin. Secured loans came to $14.18 billion, other investments to $6.0 billion and public equities to $4.18 billion.

A year earlier the mix looked different. In its third-quarter 2025 attestation, Tether reported gold and bitcoin reserves of $12.9 billion and $9.9 billion, respectively, excess reserves of $6.8 billion and total direct and indirect exposure to U.S. Treasuries of approximately $135 billion.

The report's change-in-equity table shows a financial result of $1.66 billion for the nine months and net capital movements of minus $519 million, taking equity from $6.81 billion at the end of 2025 to $7.95 billion.

The larger cushion may draw closer attention as U.S. rules take shape. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has finalized rules under the GENIUS Act that set reserve, redemption and audit standards for issuers it oversees once the law takes effect on January 18, 2027. Tether entered the U.S. market separately in January with USAT, a dollar-backed stablecoin issued through a federally regulated U.S. financial institution.