Tether, the leading stablecoin issuer, has expanded its Bitcoin holdings by transferring 7,629 BTC (worth approximately $700 million) to its reserves. The transfer, completed on December 30, 2024, represents the largest movement to the company's strategic Bitcoin reserve since March 2024.
The tokens were moved from Bitfinex's hot wallet to Tether's corporate crypto reserve address, as revealed by Arkham Intelligence data. This addition brings Tether's total Bitcoin holdings to 83,758 BTC, valued at roughly $7.8 billion at current market prices.
This purchase aligns with Tether's May 2023 strategy to diversify its portfolio, which includes allocating up to 15% of its net realized operating profits to Bitcoin acquisitions. The company has also ventured into AI, Bitcoin mining, and decentralized communications sectors.
The timing of this transfer coincides with growing discussions about USDT's status in Europe following the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation implementation deadline. The regulatory uncertainty has impacted USDT's market capitalization, which decreased from $140 billion to approximately $137 billion over the past week - marking the largest decline in a year of steady growth.
In response to mounting concerns, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino took to social media platform X to address what he termed as fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). Ardoino reassured the crypto community about USDT's safety, dismissing concerns as unfounded and attributing them to competitive maneuvering.
The latest Bitcoin transfer follows similar strategic moves by Tether, including two previous transfers of 8,888.88 BTC each, executed in March 2024 and December 2023 respectively. This pattern demonstrates the company's consistent approach to building its Bitcoin reserves while navigating regulatory challenges in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.