Psychohistory in Lugano. Paolo Ardoino took advantage of the Plan ₿ Forum at the end of October to quantify what the entire market was guessing. According to him, Tether holds “roughly 150,000 bitcoins”, or more than $11.5 billion at the daily rate. The USDT issuer also claims 730 million users and 30 million new wallets per quarter. The video of the keynote was posted online on October 27 and PANews relayed it on Tuesday, November 3. A treasure in bitcoin, gold and Treasury bills that we already described in September. However, only part of this money guarantees USDT.
Tether and its 150,000 bitcoins, far behind Strategy
Ardoino slipped the figure during a fifty-minute keynote in Lugano. It was at the Plan ₿ Forum on October 23 and 24. “Give or take 150,000 bitcoins”, according to ZeroHedge. However, bitcoin was trading around $77,000 this Tuesday morning. Do the multiplication, you get 11.5 billion.
Strategy had 849,327 BTC as of November 1. Tether has almost six times less. However, it is ahead of all other corporate treasures, including Twenty One Capital (43,514 BTC in March) and Coinbase (15,389 BTC in April). Moreover, Twenty One Capital received most of its stock from Tether. The latter had transferred 37,229 BTC to him in June 2025, almost $3.9 billion at the time. These pieces therefore do not appear in the 150,000.
The accumulation is not new. Indeed, since May 2023, Tether has allocated up to 15% of its net profit to the purchase of bitcoin. This is a ceiling and not a fixed amount. As early as 2023, analyst Tom Wan had identified an address that collected 8,888 BTC at the end of the quarter. This ritual has been repeated several times since December 2023. In total, USDT reserves contained 98,933 BTC as of June 30, 2026.
What Tether Bitcoins Guarantee Behind USDT (And What They Don’t Guarantee)
The latest certificate from the BDO firm, published on October 30, photographs the accounts as of September 30. Assets total $191.45 billion against $183.50 billion in liabilities, for 183.47 billion USDT in circulation. The surplus stands at $7.95 billion, compared to $4.11 billion at the end of June. American debt remains the backbone, with 122.84 billion Treasury bonds held directly (64% of the balance sheet). The total rises to 132.4 billion including repos. Furthermore, gold represents 19.08 billion. Finally, bitcoin weighs 8.37 billion, compared to 5.8 billion three months earlier.
This $8.37 billion is only 4.4% of assets. In other words, a USDT holder who claims his dollars will be paid with Treasury bills and not with satoshis. And this item does not correspond to 150,000 pieces. BDO values bitcoin at $83,621 as of September 30, resulting in approximately 100,000 coins in USDT reserves. Ardoino speaks on the scale of the Tether group, when the firm only covers token reserves. Around fifty thousand bitcoins therefore live outside this perimeter and without cabinet stamps. However, the mechanics also play a downward role. In the second quarter, the surplus fell from 8.23 billion to 4.11 billion because gold and bitcoin fell.
730 million users and an Asimov Foundation
Bitcoins were only a parenthesis in a speech aimed at Hari Seldon. Ardoino claims “more than 730 million users worldwide” and 30 million more wallets per quarter. According to him, this pace has no equivalent in fintech. However, the supply of USDT has stagnated at around $184 billion since January, according to Tether's own admission in its October 30 press release.
The rest of the keynote is pure science fiction. In the novel, Asimov's Foundation is intended to shorten the Dark Ages that follow the fall of the Galactic Empire. Likewise, Tether presents itself as a company dedicated to stability and financial inclusion. “You can’t stop the darkness. Darkness will arrive,” says Ardoino, who wants to reduce it “by 10%, 20%, 30%.” The tool is called the independence stack, open source building blocks ranging from mining to self-preserving wallets (WDK) and embedded artificial intelligence (QVAC). “If Tether dies tomorrow, our technology must survive,” summarizes the manager. A private company that dreams of itself as a savior of civilization, with $4.5 billion in operating profit over nine months? This deserves at least a raised eyebrow.
