Tether said it generated about $1.5 billion in net operating profit in the second quarter of 2026, with income largely coming from its holdings of US Treasury securities and related repo operations. The figures were disclosed in the company’s latest reserve attestation prepared by BDO and released on Friday.
The stablecoin issuer also reported continued growth in USDT, with circulating supply reaching roughly $184.6 billion by the end of June. Based on Tether’s own figures, that gave the token more than 60% of the global stablecoin market.
Balance sheet shows $4.1 billion in excess reserves
According to the attestation, Tether held approximately $187.7 billion in total assets at the end of June against about $183.6 billion in liabilities. That left the company with roughly $4.1 billion in excess reserves.
US government-backed securities remained the largest component of Tether’s reserves. Because the portfolio is concentrated in short-term US debt and related instruments, the company’s earnings are closely tied to the level of interest rates and Treasury yields.
Reserve mix shifts during the quarter
Tether said it changed the composition of its reserves over the quarter by trimming secured lending and adding to its physical gold position. Outstanding secured loans declined by about $2.4 billion, although the company did not provide a detailed breakdown of the borrowers or collateral linked to that reduction.
At the same time, Tether bought another 14 tons of physical gold, bringing total holdings to more than 146 tons. The company said this continued a broader diversification beyond cash-equivalent reserves into assets including gold and Bitcoin.
Its Bitcoin holdings were valued at about $5.8 billion at the end of June. Tether said the overall portfolio remained resilient despite significant price volatility affecting both gold and Bitcoin during the period.
US market exposure remains central to earnings
While USDT is used globally, Tether’s reserve structure leaves the company closely connected to US financial markets. The main source of quarterly profit remained interest income from US Treasury holdings, together with returns from repo transactions.
That means future profitability could still be affected by changes in Federal Reserve policy or shifts in Treasury yields, even if the amount of USDT in circulation continues to rise.
Audit plans and new initiatives continue
Beyond the quarterly financial update, Tether said it added more than 30 million users globally during the second quarter. The company also said it is continuing preparations for a full audit by a Big Four accounting firm, but did not give a timeline for when that process might be completed.
Tether is separately expanding USAT, its US-focused stablecoin. The token recently launched on Celo, its second supported mainnet after Ethereum, allowing native minting and redemption on Celo without third-party bridges. Under Celo’s CIP-64 upgrade, approved ERC-20 tokens can also be used to pay transaction fees, which means USAT can be used for gas on the network.
The company is also exploring tokenized market infrastructure in Africa. On July 28, Tether and the Nairobi Securities Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding covering tokenized securities, blockchain-based market systems and digital asset education in Kenya. The agreement does not authorize a tokenized security, launch a trading venue or commit the exchange to using USDT, but it does set out an area for further assessment where Kenyan regulations allow.
Source: crypto.news