Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, has released its attestation for the first quarter of 2025, claiming that it has over $120 billion in exposure to United States Treasury securities and over $1 billion in profit for the quarter.
However, it also suggests that Tether keeps very little cash around.
Additionally, the attestation shows that Tether’s self-described “equity” (assets minus liabilities) in the report has fallen by almost $1.5 billion this quarter, more than the total profit.
This was also the first quarter after Tether relocated to El Salvador.
Reserves
Tether’s reserves are dominated by US Treasury securities, with nearly $100 billion in direct exposure and an additional $20 billion in more indirect exposure in the Money Market Funds and Reverse Repurchase Agreements it uses.
Beyond these assets, Tether still maintains a variety of different exposures, including over $6.5 billion in precious metals, $7.6 billion in bitcoin (BTC), and $4.4 billion in “other Investments.”
Jarringly, Tether also has $8.8 billion in “secured loans.”
Read more: Why are Tether and Cantor Fitzgerald lending near identical amounts?
Tether had previously committed in late 2022 to “reduce secured loans in Tether’s reserves to zero.”
Eventually, Tether declared victory, despite still having secured loans, by classifying them as “excess reserves.” This categorization depended on Tether having more “excess reserves” than it did secured loans.
Since then, the company’s secured loans have continued to grow and now exceed Tether International’s so-called “equity,” meaning that secured loans are once again part of Tether’s reserves.
However, perhaps the most striking detail in the reserves is how little cash and bank deposits Tether needs to keep around. The attestation lists only $64 million in that category, a mere 0.04% of its total assets, suggesting it has other ways to quickly access liquid cash to manage redemptions.
Growth
Tether has continued to grow over the past year, increasing its total assets from approximately $82 billion to nearly $150 billion.
Its liabilities, mostly comprised of outstanding tokens, have also grown from approximately $79 billion to $143 billion.
Tether’s equity has also grown from approximately $2.4 billion to $5.5 billion, but has fallen from its peak of $7 billion.
Investments
Tether’s large reported profits have allowed it the funds to rapidly diversify its investments across the globe and industries.
These investments are incredibly varied, including data centers, football clubs, agricultural conglomerates, satellite companies, payment companies, and many more.
Read more: Tether: Ten years, 100,000,000,000 USDT, and still no audit
One of the most important of these is the acquisition of Adecoagro, a Latin American agricultural conglomerate.
Some have speculated that Tether intends to use this as part of its tokenization push, possibly using its own Hadron platform.
Other investments and its partnerships, like its now defunct mining partnership with Swan, have drawn it into litigation.
Read more: Bitcoin mining firm Proton says Swan lawsuit ‘fatally flawed’
Additionally, Tether has invested in Rumble, a video-streaming website that has partnered with Donald Trump Jr.
The company has also continued working closely with its largest custodian, Cantor Fitzgerald, even as the firm’s previous head, Howard Lutnick, has started his role as Donald Trump’s commerce secretary.
Taken as a whole, Tether continues to grow, invest, and become an even more critical global financial firm.
