Tether Posts $1.5 Billion Q2 Profit as Reserve Buffer Cushion Shrinks by Half

Tether reported roughly $1.5 billion in operating profit for the second quarter, even as the excess reserve cushion backing its USDT stablecoin shrank by half, dropping to $4.11 billion from a record $8.23 billion.

Reserve Gap Raises Questions

The company’s Q2 2026 attestation, prepared by accounting firm BDO, confirmed USDT remains overcollateralized but did not explain what happened to more than $5 billion in surplus reserves. Total assets stood at $187.75 billion against liabilities of $183.64 billion as of June 30, down from $191.77 billion in assets three months earlier. Combined with the quarter’s $1.5 billion profit, the numbers suggest roughly $5.6 billion in unrealized losses or outflows, with Tether having entered April holding about $20 billion in gold and $7 billion in Bitcoin.

Disclosure Details Grow Thinner

Unlike its Q1 report, which listed exact dollar figures for Treasury bills, gold and Bitcoin holdings, Friday’s release omitted those breakdowns, describing gold only in tonnage, now over 146 tons, and Treasury holdings as a majority share without a specific figure. The report also shifted its wording from “net profit” to “net operating profit,” a measure that excludes mark-to-market swings on volatile assets like gold and Bitcoin.

Audit Still Underway, Peg Remains Stable

Tether’s engagement with KPMG, confirmed in March, remains ongoing without a completion date. CEO Paolo Ardoino acknowledged that some reserve assets faced pressure during the quarter but did not quantify the impact. Despite the reserve decline, USDT held its peg near $0.9986 and kept its position as the third-largest stablecoin by market cap at $183.5 billion, with Tether reporting more than 30 million new users added during the quarter.