Tether's Reserve Buffer Shrinks as GENIUS Act Looms Large
Tether's excess reserves have halved in just three months, according to its latest BDO attestation report. The company's capital buffer dropped from $8.23 billion in Q1 to $4.11 billion by June 30, despite a circulating supply of USDT growing by roughly $446 million.
This leaves the remaining surplus as the primary margin of safety for Tether, which currently reports total assets of $187.75 billion against $183.64 billion in liabilities. The composition of this surplus is where things get interesting: Tether holds 146.2 metric tons of gold, up from 132.2, but the dollar value of that gold fell to $18.84 billion from $19.84 billion due to a 15% drop in gold prices.
The firm also holds 98,933 BTC, an increase of about 1,796 coins, yet the dollar value of those holdings fell to $5.80 billion from $6.62 billion as the price of Bitcoin slid to $58,600 from $68,200. Transparency has moved in the opposite direction of asset growth: the BDO report now strips away dollar valuations for gold and no longer includes them.