Overview
- Tether’s latest attestation lists about $181 billion in assets against roughly $174.45 billion in liabilities, indicating a reserve surplus near $6.8 billion.
- Disclosures show approximately $12.9 billion in gold and $9.9 billion in Bitcoin, a mix analysts say increases sensitivity to price swings.
- Arthur Hayes contends a 30% decline in those volatile holdings could wipe out equity and render USDT technically insolvent in that scenario.
- CoinShares’ James Butterfill cites the surplus and strong profitability—nearly $10 billion in the first nine months—to downplay collapse fears, while CEO Paolo Ardoino rejects S&P Global’s recent peg-resiliency downgrade.
- USDT usage remains dominant, with November on-chain volume reported near $720 billion, as some analysts warn the larger vulnerability is a redemption run on the order of about $34 billion.