On March 31, the issuer of USDT, Tether, increased its bitcoin reserves by 8888 BTC ($618 million), bringing the total to 75,354 BTC ($5.23 billion).
With this latest transaction, the company has moved to the seventh position among the largest holders of digital gold, holding 0.359% of its supply among private and public companies.
Only MicroStrategy (214,246 BTC), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (335,154 BTC), iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (252,011 BTC), Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ETF (143,743 BTC), Block.One (164,000 BTC), and MtGox (141,685 BTC) rank higher, according to BitcoinTreasuries.
Including the holdings of the US (207,189 BTC) and Chinese (194,000 BTC) authorities, Tether ranks ninth, according to BuyBitcoinWorldwide.
According to CoinStats, the average purchase price of the coins was $30,305. The unrealized profit has reached $2.957 billion (+129.5%).
Tether’s previous purchase of 8888 BTC also occurred on December 31, 2023.
The company has not officially disclosed its bitcoin addresses, but in August, 21.co analyst Tom Wan identified a wallet he estimated belonged to the company.
Tether first revealed its bitcoin reserves in May, when the firm also announced its intention to regularly invest up to 15% of its profits in digital gold.
In March 2024, the USDT issuer announced a strategic expansion into the artificial intelligence industry.