Tether Publishes Breakdown of Reserves Backing the World's Largest Stablecoin

The world's largest stablecoin has had its fair share of media exposure during the latest Bitcoin bull market as critics questioned its backing, even going as far as to allege Bitcoin price manipulation through the use of Tether (USDt).

In March, the New York Attorney General's (NYAG) probe of Tether ended with a settlement, in which Tether admitted no wrongdoing. Later that month, the stablecoin issuer sought to refute the remaining accusations once and for all via an assurance opinion from Moore Cayman, which states that Tether is indeed fully backed. Moore Cayman is part of Moore Global, a century-old accounting firm headquartered in London and one of the largest accounting networks in the world.

“Tether has always been fully backed, and the assurance opinion we made available today confirms it once again," Tether General Counsel Stuart Hoegner commented at the time.

Now Tether has published additional information on the breakdown of the reserves backing issued USDt. The reveal is not a reaction to remaining critical voices asking for more details on Tether's backing, but follows a proposal made by Tether as part of its settlement agreement with NYAG, which outlined the ongoing publication of Tether's reserve breakdown. Tether has committed to make this information available not just to the Attorney General's Office, but also to the public.

Tether's reserves breakdown as of March 31st, 2021. Source: Tether

The breakdown of reserves backing Tether reveals that over 75% consist of cash and cash equivalents, as well as short-term deposits and commercial papers. The remaining 25% are made up of secured loans, none of which have been made to entities affiliated with Tether, corporate bonds, funds, precious metals, and other investments such as digital tokens.

Commenting on why Tether chose not to hold its entire reserves in U.S. dollars, Hoegner told the BTC Times, "Tether's strategy is to pursue superior returns and, in so doing, safeguard its reserves portfolio. Three-quarters of the portfolio is in cash, cash equivalents, and other short-term deposits and commercial paper, so it is misleading to focus exclusively on cash within that category."

Tether currently sits at a record market capitalization of $58 billion, making it the largest stablecoin by far.