Tether, the company behind the most widely used stablecoin, USDT, has announced that it expects to report a profit of $700m for Q1 2023.
According to Tether’s chief technology officer (CTO), Paolo Ardoino, the projected profit for Q1 2023 would match the profit of Q4 2022, which was also $700m. It means that Tether would have a total of $1.6 billion in excess reserves by the end of March 2023 and an increase in its circulation of 18%, reaching $78b as of this writing.
It makes USDT the most widely used stablecoin in the crypto market, accounting for almost 60% of the total stablecoin market cap.
Ardoino attributed the impressive growth to several factors, including the increased demand for USDT across various blockchains, the expansion of Tether’s product offerings and partnerships, and the improved transparency and compliance of Tether’s operations.
The Tether CTO also revealed details about Tether’s reserve composition and custodians. He said that most of Tether’s reserves are now invested in short-term US Treasury bills after the company reduced its exposure to commercial paper last year.
He also confirmed that Tether works with Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services firm, Capital Union Bank, a Bahamian bank, as custodians for its T-bill holdings, and Deltec Bank & Trust, another Bahamian bank that has been Tether’s long-time partner.
Tether profits from USDC, BUSD woes
Tether has taken advantage of the problems facing other stablecoins, such as Binance USD (BUSD) and USD Coin (USDC), which have seen their market share decline in recent months.
BUSD, backed by Paxos Trust Company, has been affected by the regulatory crackdown by the US authorities on stablecoin issuers.
USDC, backed by Circle Internet Financial, has suffered from a loss of confidence after revelations that Circle had deposits tied up with Silicon Valley Bank. This lender collapsed earlier this month.
Tether intends to invest 20% of its profits in strategic projects that benefit its ecosystem and users. Ardoino said that Tether supports Bitcoin as its “insurance” against the risks of the traditional financial system and invests in other cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects that have potential. He did not disclose any specific names or amounts of these investments.
