Tether Releases August 2023 Token Reserve Breakdown

Stablecoin giant Tether has published another transparency report detailing the composition of its reserves, and the blockchains on which its tokens are issued.

The report confirms that Tether has $3.3 billion in excess reserves, meaning its tokens are over 100% backed.

Analyzing Tether’s Reserves

Per the report published on Thursday, Tether owns $86.1 billion in assets, while possessing $82.8 billion in liabilities. These liabilities exist in the form of dollar-pegged USDT tokens issued across various blockchains.

The largest amount of USDT (~42.5 billion) circulates on Tron, while a rivaling amount (~38.4 billion) trades on Ethereum. The next largest chain, Solana, hosts far fewer tokens at just ~$800 million USDT.

11 other chains comprise the remainder of Tether’s USDT, though three of those networks – Omni, SLP, and Kusama – are scheduled to have their support canceled in May due to lack of adoption.

The company’s report reiterates claims from last month that the firm holds a 4% reserve surplus, dispelling previous criticisms that its assets and liabilities were dangerously close to the point of making the firm insolvent. These claims were based on an assurance report provided by BDO Italia, analyzing Tether’s balance sheet as of June 30 2023.

The excess reserves solely exist as a form of insurance and are generated using Tether’s profits from its reserve stash. Like other top stablecoins, Tether keeps the overwhelming majority of its profits in U.S. Treasury bills, overnight reverse repurchase agreements, cash, and other cash equivalents.

The Federal Reserve’s hawkish monetary policy has driven up the yield on government debt above 5% per year, allowing Tether to profit $1 billion in Q2 2023 alone.

Stablecoin Adoption Remains Strong

A stablecoin report published by Brevan Howard this week confirmed that Tether continues to dominate the stablecoin market, accounting for 75% of stablecoin transactions.

Mirroring Tether’s report, the hedge fund’s analysis found that a plurality of stablecoin transactions take place on Tron, while 50% of stablecoin volume is settled on Ethereum. “The vast majority of non-speculative activity uses fiat-backed stablecoins,” it added.

In total, stablecoins settled far more value last year ($11 trillion) than PayPal ($1.4 trillion), nearly matching Visa at $11.6 trillion. In general, stablecoin volume now appears to have decoupled from exchange volume, which represents more speculative stablecoin activity.