Additional Bitcoin purchases make it the fifth-largest wallet globally.
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Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced in a public statement on the 1st that Tether had closed out 2025 by adding 8,888 Bitcoins on New Year's Eve. This purchase brought Tether's Bitcoin holdings to over 96,000, making it the fifth-largest Bitcoin wallet, behind Binance, Robinhood, and Bitfinex.
Tether maintains a strategy of allocating up to 15% of its quarterly profits to Bitcoin, and this acquisition was valued at approximately $780 million (approximately 1.04 trillion won) at the time of acquisition. Tether is currently classified as the second-largest privately held Bitcoin treasury holding company.
In addition to Bitcoin, Tether is also securing real assets. In the third quarter of 2025, Tether purchased 26 tons of gold, bringing its total holdings to 116 tons, placing it among the top 30 gold holders globally. However, its reserve structure, which mixes US Treasury bonds, Bitcoin, and gold, is attracting attention from credit rating agencies and market analysts. S&P recently downgraded Tether's credit rating, citing concerns about the transparency of USDT and concentration risk.
Some markets have raised concerns about the possibility of a selloff due to Tether's Bitcoin balance fluctuations, but Ardoino, the CEO, denied these claims, explaining that he simply transferred the Bitcoin to Tether-backed Twenty One Capital. As of the 1st, Twenty One Capital held 43,514 Bitcoins, making it the third-largest Bitcoin holding among publicly traded companies.
Meanwhile, the competition among companies to accumulate Bitcoin continues around the end of the year. Japanese listed company Metaplanet recently purchased an additional 4,279 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 35,102. Strategy is strengthening its corporate Bitcoin financial strategy by increasing its Bitcoin holdings to over 670,000.
Reporter Jeong Ha-yeon yomwork8824@blockstreet.co.kr
