Tether’s Net Profit in Q2 Shrunk by Nearly Half Compared to Q1
Tether, the issuer of USDT stablecoin, today released its attestation report for the second quarter (between April 2023 and June 2023), reporting a net profit of $850 million and excess reserves of ~$3.2 billion. Markedly, the reported net figure is significantly lower than the profit of $1.5 billion the stablecoin issuer recorded in the preceding quarter. The company’s consolidated total assets across Q2 weighed around $86.5 billion against liabilities of $83 billion as of the end of the quarter.
“Excess reserves are the company’s own profits — not distributed to shareholders and which the company has decided to keep on top of the 100% reserves that Tether maintains to back all the outstanding tokens.” the company said in the audited Jul 31 report.
Tether’s current excess reserves of nearly $3.3 billion top the Q1 figure of $2.44 billion. The USDT issuer clarified that it tracked a significant 30% quarter-over-quarter increase in operational profits, which totaled over $1 billion in the quarter ending June 2023. Tether also revealed a share buyback amounting to $115 million “made to further strengthen the shareholder group, and other investments in energy-related initiatives financed from the profits”, which it said justified the discrepancies between the quoted profit figure and the excess reserves swell.
“The investment in energy-related initiatives are not included in the Consolidated Reserves Report (CRR) as these are not considered by Tether as an eligible reserve for the token in circulation.”
The latest edition of the attestation report from Tether also assured that its reserve is very liquid – 85% held in either cash or cash equivalents.
“Transparency is not just a buzzword for us; it is the cornerstone of our philosophy […] we remain dedicated to embracing accountability, enhancing risk management and security, leading by example,” Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said on Monday. “That’s why in this quarter, Tether’s USDT token in circulation surpassed its previous all-time high.”
To learn more about USDT, check out our Investing in Tether guide.