Tether reported a net profit of $1.04 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and raised its reserves to a record $8.23 billion despite significant global market volatility.
These figures were confirmed by a periodic audit report from the auditing firm BDO. According to the report, total liabilities in USD₮ amounted to approximately $183 billion, while total assets reached $191.77 billion, generating a Capital surplus of over $8.2 billion.
First-quarter profits came from interest rates on US government bonds.
The reserves are primarily allocated to short-term government securities. As of March 31, 2026, the total value of direct and indirect exposure to U.S. Treasury bonds reached approximately $141 billion.
According to Tether, this figure makes the company the 17th largest creditor of the US government globally.
This is also a key factor in generating profits for the company. When US Treasury bond yields exceed 4%, with $141 billion invested, Tether earns billions of dollars in interest each year. This is also the main driver behind the strong increase in first-quarter profits.
The $8.23 billion provision actually comes from accumulated profits, not additional external investment.
If short-term interest rates fall sharply and for an extended period, this model will also be immediately impacted.
Gold and Bitcoin are outside the safe zone.
Besides government bonds, Tether also holds approximately $20 billion in physical gold and $7 billion in Bitcoin (BTC). These two assets account for about 14% of its total reserves.
The company stated that this is a diversification strategy aimed at hedging against macroeconomic risks; however, unlike government bonds, the value of gold and Bitcoin can fluctuate sharply on a daily basis, causing Capital gains to increase or decrease significantly.
In previous cycles, Bitcoin alone has seen its price drop by over 30% in a single quarter.
The total circulating supply of Token remained around $183 billion throughout the quarter. The amount of USD₮ in circulation alone increased by over 5 billion units since the beginning of Q2 after Tether launched its self-custodial feature with the Tether Wallet .
One unresolved issue was addressed at the end of the press release: Tether stated that the full audit process had “officially begun” this quarter – the first time the company has publicly confirmed this in its regular report.
Until the audit process is complete, the $8.23 billion provision remains only the verified figure, not the final audited figure.
