Paolo Ardoino, the head of Tether, spoke out this weekend to dispel rumors. No, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin did not liquidate its Bitcoin treasury to turn to gold.
A controversy born from a decrease in BTC reserves
It all started with an observation: according to financial attestations for the second quarter, Tether’s Bitcoin reserves dropped from 92,650 BTC to 83,274 BTC. A decrease of nearly 10,000 bitcoins, equivalent to over $400 million at the current exchange rate. YouTuber Clive Thompson suggested that the company had quietly sold part of its stock to fund gold purchases, an asset that Tether already holds up to $8.7 billion in.
Samson Mow’s intervention
The explanation seems to be quite different. These bitcoins do not appear to have been sold but rather transferred to Twenty One Capital (XXI), a BTC treasury company in which Tether is the majority shareholder. In other words, the bitcoins remain within the Tether ecosystem, but under a different entity.
Ardoino himself confirmed this theory:
Bitcoin, gold, and… land
The executive seized this opportunity to reiterate Tether’s strategy: diversifying its profits into assets deemed “safe” such as Bitcoin, gold, and even land. The company, which manages the world’s largest stablecoin with over $170 billion in circulation, plays a systemic role in crypto market liquidity. Every move of its reserves is closely monitored, both by Bitcoin supporters and its critics, who regularly highlight Tether’s historical lack of transparency.
A signal for the market
For investors, the message is clear: Tether has not sold its bitcoins but is seeking to strengthen its exposure through entities like XXI. Concurrently, its gold reserve confirms a desire to hedge against macroeconomic and monetary uncertainty. In a market where trust is fragile, each statement from Ardoino becomes a signal for traders. And this time, the message is clear: Tether remains one of the largest institutional Bitcoin holders, while expanding its bet on safe haven assets.
