Tether Buys $1B Bitcoin, Becomes Sixth-Largest BTC Holder

The $1 billion Bitcoin purchase on September 30 represents Tether’s second major acquisition for 2025, following a similar transaction on March 31. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the transaction was first identified by Onchain Lens and involved transfers from Bitfinex hot wallets to Tether’s reserve address. This acquisition fits into a broader pattern visible in the address’s on-chain history, where Tether has repeatedly moved substantial Bitcoin blocks into its reserves, including previous transactions worth $700 million and $1.4 million, often during periods of market volatility.

The latest purchase increases Tether’s Bitcoin reserves by 11%, bringing the company’s total holdings to 86,335 BTC worth $9.75 billion at current valuations. This strategic accumulation aligns with Tether’s publicly announced Bitcoin strategy from May 2023, which committed the company to allocating 15% of its net profits toward Bitcoin purchases to build a robust reserve. The consistent execution of this strategy demonstrates Tether’s long-term commitment to Bitcoin as a core reserve asset.

Tether’s financial strength extends far beyond its Bitcoin holdings. With a $115 billion market capitalization for USDT, the company possesses unmatched liquidity that enables institutions to leverage the stablecoin for yield generation and cross-chain transactions. The company’s balance sheet reveals $127 billion in US Treasury holdings and $5.47 billion in excess reserves, creating a substantial financial buffer that reinforces Tether’s credibility as a dominant force in digital finance.

The company’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy has proven highly profitable, with an average purchase price of approximately $48,542 per BTC. At current market valuations, Tether is sitting on an unrealized profit of $5.5 billion from its Bitcoin investments alone. This positions Tether alongside institutional Bitcoin ETF holders, who collectively control over 410,000 BTC representing a staggering 33% of all Bitcoin holdings, highlighting the growing institutionalization of Bitcoin as an asset class.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan has made a bold prediction that Tether could potentially shatter Saudi Aramco’s $120 billion yearly profit record to become the most profitable company in history. Hougan’s analysis points to Tether’s near-total dominance of the stablecoin market share in non-Western markets, where emerging economies may increasingly favor USDT over native currencies for transactions and store of value.

Hougan explained that if Tether were to reach $3 trillion in assets—representing approximately 3% of the global money supply—the company would generate sufficient revenue at current interest rates to surpass Saudi Aramco’s profit record. This projection underscores the massive potential of Tether’s business model, which benefits from the compounding effect of holding substantial interest-bearing assets against its stablecoin liabilities.

The potential for Tether to go public with a speculated $500 billion valuation could place the company among the world’s most valuable private companies, alongside industry giants like SpaceX and OpenAI. According to Hougan, the fundamental mistake crypto skeptics make is underestimating both the size of the market Tether serves and the scale of the traditional financial industry it aims to disrupt through its stablecoin dominance and strategic asset management.