Tether earned about $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, while USDT in circulation grew by roughly $446 million. The issuer’s share of the stablecoin market still climbed above 60%.
Key Takeaways
- Tether posted about $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter of 2026, according to its BDO attestation.
- USDT in circulation reached roughly $184.6 billion, an increase of about $446 million over the first quarter.
- Reserve surplus stood at $4.11 billion, with total assets of $187.75 billion against $183.64 billion in liabilities.
- Gold holdings passed 146 tons after the company bought another 14 tons during the quarter.
- Secured lending exposure fell by approximately $2.38 billion, or 15%, as reserves stayed in short-duration assets.
What Happened?
Tether, the company that issues USDT, published its second-quarter reserve attestation prepared by the accounting firm BDO. The report puts approximately $184.6 billion of USDT in circulation as of June 30, and Tether said that total carried USDT past 60% of the global stablecoin market.
That share moved higher while total stablecoin market capitalization declined over the same period. Tether also said its global user base expanded by more than 30 million users during the quarter.
Tether Reports $1.5B Q2 Operating Profit as Gold Holdings Exceed 146 Tons
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 31, 2026
Tether reported approximately $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter, driven mainly by U.S. Treasury and repo income. As of June 30, the company held $187.75 billion in assets… pic.twitter.com/eODpaynR8C
Where the Profit Came From?
Tether said its reserve portfolio stays concentrated in short-duration, high-quality liquid assets, with U.S. Treasuries and repurchase agreements driving the quarterly operating profit. Total assets stood at $187.75 billion against $183.64 billion in liabilities, leaving reserves above liabilities by approximately $4.11 billion.
The company cut secured lending exposure by approximately $2.38 billion, or 15%, during the period. It added 14 tons of physical gold, lifting total holdings beyond 146 tons. Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said the reserve strategy withstood market volatility across both Bitcoin and gold while keeping USDT fully backed.
Treasury-heavy reserves are standard among the largest issuers. Circle, the issuer of USDC, holds approximately 88% of those reserves in short-dated U.S. Treasury securities and overnight Treasury repurchase agreements, a composition tracked in stablecoin reserve data.
Market Share Rose as the Sector Contracted
USDT’s quarterly expansion was small next to the supply already outstanding, and Tether’s own account ties the move above 60% to a decline in total stablecoin market capitalization rather than to new coins entering circulation.
The sector reached this point after two years of fast growth. DefiLlama data puts total stablecoin capitalization at roughly $315.0 billion in mid-2026, up from $161.5 billion in mid-2024, figures collected in stablecoin market cap data. A quarter of contraction inside that trend line is what lets a dominance number move without much new supply behind it.
What the Attestation Does Not Settle?
Tether said work on its Big Four audit continued through the quarter. The BDO attestation reports balances measured at a single date. It is not the completed audit Tether says remains in progress, and the two documents answer different questions.
Four questions stay open:
- Where the additional 14 tons of gold sit in custody, and with which counterparties?
- Which borrowers hold the secured lending book that remains after the reduction?
- Whether the 30 million new users transact regularly or hold small balances?
- When the Big Four audit concludes, and what scope it covers?
USDT holders can read the attestation directly, check the asset and liability totals behind the surplus figure, and note the date those balances were measured before reading the profit number as a description of current conditions.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
The quarter shows where Tether’s income actually originates. The reserve portfolio generates it, and that portfolio earns on assets the company already holds, so the profit landed in a period when supply barely moved. Earnings at this issuer now track interest income on a large float, and the float itself held close to flat.
The gold position changes the shape of the reserve. Physical metal pays no yield, so a larger allocation shifts part of the reserve toward an asset valued on price alone, and the surplus above liabilities is what absorbs the swings in it. The audit question sits underneath all of it, because an attestation confirms balances a firm was shown at one moment, while a full audit examines controls and history.
