Watch Your Back Saylor: Tether Doubles Down on Bitcoin, Now Holds $2.8B in BTC

Stablecoin issuer Tether has recently added 8,888 BTC (worth over $370.6 million) to its Bitcoin stash, bringing its total portfolio to approximately $2.8 billion.

Tether Stacks More BTC

In September 2022, Tether began stacking BTC to expand its reserves portfolio for the USDT stablecoin. However, it was only in May 2023 that the stablecoin issuing company revealed its commitment to purchasing BTCs. The firm noted that it would pour 15% of its monthly revenue into the leading cryptocurrency.

Tether’s initial purchase, which occurred in September 2022, was 33,980 BTC. In subsequent months, the stablecoin issuer bought more BTCs to increase its Bitcoin holdings. For instance, Tether bagged 15,915 BTC in March 2023. Between May and September, the stablecoin issuer accumulated 4,083 BTC.

In December 2023, Tether’s BTC portfolio netted an unrealized profit of approximately $1.1 billion. The profit came at a time when Bitcoin’s value crossed the $40,000 price mark for the first time in many months amid the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) anticipation.

According to the price tracking platform CoinStats, Bitcoin’s value currently trades around $41,800. The price represents a 1.25% decrease over the last 24 hours, and a 9% decrease in the last seven days.

Source: CoinStats

BTC Holdings: Will Tether Supercede MicroStrategy?

Business intelligence company MicroStrategy has a known track record of stacking up BTC. Under the leadership of its founder Michael Saylor, the business intelligence firm has upheld a three-year-long Bitcoin purchasing spree.

In its most recent buy in December 2023, MicroStrategy added 14,620 BTCs to its portfolio, bringing its total holdings to more than 189,100 BTCs, approximately valued at $5.9 billion.

With Tether taking a similar turn by bagging more BTCs, the stablecoin issuing firm is gradually leveling up to MicroStrategy’s level. Since MicroStrategy holds 189,150 BTCs and Tether holds 66,465 BTCs, it is obvious that the latter still has quite a long way to go.

If Tether increases its 15% commitment and stacks more BTCs, the firm may likely catch up to MicroStrategy and potentially compete with the business intelligence company.