Tether kicked off 2026 by quietly adding 8,888.88 BTC to its treasury, pushing its bitcoin holdings above 96,000 BTC, CEO Paolo Ardoino said. The transfer — disclosed as part of Tether’s Q4 2025 profit allocation — is worth roughly $780 million at current prices and underlines the stablecoin issuer’s growing role as one of bitcoin’s largest corporate holders.
Ardoino noted the purchase on social media, writing that “Tether acquired 8,888.8888888 BTC in Q4 2025.” The buy reflects a policy introduced in 2023 that directs up to 15% of Tether’s realized quarterly operating profits into bitcoin. That rule has turned Tether into a systematic accumulator: instead of making opportunistic, one-off purchases, the company channels a steady slice of its earnings into BTC each quarter.
How that pipeline works matters. Tether’s profits derive largely from the cash-like assets that back USDT — primarily short-term U.S. Treasuries and repo markets — so higher interest rates and continued demand for stablecoins can increase operating income. With this extra profit, Tether diversifies some of its excess treasury into bitcoin while keeping the bulk of USDT backing in highly liquid instruments, rather than dipping into the assets that secure its stablecoin liabilities.
The timing is notable: bitcoin has had trouble sustaining rallies into year-end, liquidity thinned across venues, and risk appetite was uneven. BTC was trading around $89,000 by mid-day Hong Kong time when the purchase was reported. Whether small, regular allocations like this will materially affect price dynamics is debated, but Tether’s programmatic buys are now a consistent and closely watched source of demand in the market.
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