Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has disclosed a profit of $2.85 billion in the final quarter of 2023, marking its highest quarterly earnings to date.
Approximately $1 billion of the net profits stemmed primarily from interests earned on U.S. Treasuries, while the remainder largely originated from reserves in gold and Bitcoin.
USDT is a stablecoin tethered to the value of the U.S. dollar, maintaining its peg by holding equivalent amounts of “cash and cash equivalent” to the circulating USDT supply. Tether assures customers of the ability to redeem USDT for fiat currencies on a 1:1 basis.
According to Tether’s Q4 attestation released on Wednesday, the company now boasts $5.4 billion in excess reserves, with an increase of $2.2 billion from the previous quarter.
Not only is Tether the largest stablecoin globally, but it also ranks as the most traded cryptocurrency. Over the past 24 hours, USDT recorded a trading volume of $33.5 billion, surpassing all other cryptocurrencies.
Presently, Tether holds a market capitalization of $96 billion, securing its position as the third-largest cryptocurrency and is poised to become the first stablecoin to surpass the $100 billion mark. In comparison, USDC, the second-largest stablecoin managed by Circle Internet Financial, holds a market cap of $26.78 billion.
Circle recently filed for an initial public listing, signaling its intention to go public. Previously, Circle had planned to pursue a public listing through a $9 billion special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal, but abandoned the plan in December 2022.
