Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland, that the company controls about 150,000 bitcoin, implying a position worth roughly $11.5 billion at a bitcoin price of $77,000. The figure is materially higher than the bitcoin amount shown in Tether International’s latest reserve attestation, which covered assets supporting USDT as of Sept. 30, 2026.
That gap does not by itself indicate a problem with reserves, but it does suggest that part of Tether’s bitcoin exposure may sit outside the assets reported in the quarterly document. Tether has not published a consolidated explanation showing where those additional holdings are kept, when they were acquired, or which entities in its corporate structure own them.
Conference remarks point to a larger treasury
During his keynote appearance, Ardoino said Tether holds “give or take 150,000 bitcoin ourselves.” If that estimate is accurate, Tether would rank among the largest corporate bitcoin holders. The source article notes that Strategy has reported 849,327 BTC, while Tether would stand as the largest disclosed privately held corporate holder based on BitcoinTreasuries.net rankings.
Ardoino also used the event to describe the scale of Tether’s broader business. He said the company serves more than 730 million users globally and adds around 30 million wallets to its ecosystem each quarter. Those comments offered a rare public snapshot of a privately held issuer whose activities span stablecoins and other investments.
Reserve report shows more than 100,000 BTC
Tether International’s third-quarter 2026 reserve attestation, prepared by BDO, listed $8.367 billion in bitcoin holdings as of Sept. 30. Using the reference price in that filing, the amount corresponds to more than 100,000 BTC.
Compared with Ardoino’s conference estimate, the difference is roughly 50,000 BTC, worth about $3.87 billion at the bitcoin price cited in the source. The article stresses that this discrepancy does not necessarily mean assets are missing or reserves are insufficient, because the attestation is specifically focused on reserves backing USDT rather than every bitcoin position that may be held by affiliated entities or through proprietary investment activity.
One possible explanation is Tether’s stated policy from May 2023 to allocate up to 15% of operating profits to bitcoin purchases. Even so, the company has not provided a single breakdown reconciling the reserve report with the larger total described by its chief executive.
Public wallet covers only part of the total
Blockchain data offers a partial view of Tether’s reported bitcoin exposure. A publicly identified address attributed to the company, beginning with bc1qjasf9z3h7w3jspk, held 96,932.40697348 BTC at press time, or nearly $7.5 billion at the price used in the article. The wallet first became active on Sept. 30, 2022, and had received about 112,340.77 BTC in 212 incoming transactions while sending out 15,408.36 BTC in 204 outgoing transactions.
That address would account for about 64.6% of the 150,000 BTC total mentioned by Ardoino, leaving an estimated 53,068 BTC held elsewhere if both figures are correct. The article says the wallet is currently the fifth-largest bitcoin address by balance and that the funds in it came directly from Bitfinex, the centralized exchange owned by Tether’s parent company.
At the same time, on-chain labels do not prove the full scope of an organization’s holdings. Establishing control over other addresses would require additional evidence such as verified company disclosures, signed messages, or traceable transfers.
Broader balance sheet and what remains unanswered
Beyond bitcoin, Tether’s September financial statement reported $191.45 billion in reserve assets against $183.50 billion in liabilities, leaving about $7.95 billion in excess reserves. The filing showed $132.4 billion of direct and indirect exposure to U.S. Treasury bills and $19.08 billion in precious metals, including about 142.8 metric tons of physical gold.
The source article also says Tether’s gold-backed token project, XAUT, reportedly held another 25.7 metric tons, bringing combined physical gold holdings to about 168.5 metric tons. As of Nov. 3, roughly 179.12 billion USDT were in circulation.
The next confirmed step is still a matter of disclosure rather than a stated corporate action. Ardoino’s remarks have highlighted a larger bitcoin position than the one visible in Tether International’s reserve attestation, but the company has not yet published a consolidated accounting of those additional coins, their custody, or their ownership across the group.
Source: news.bitcoin.com