Stablecoin issuer Tether made headlines on March 31, as it acquitted 8,888 Bitcoin, valued at $618 million.
The recent acquisition significantly boosts Tether’s reserves prior to the upcoming Bitcoin halving event. With this, the total number of Bitcoins in the stablecoin issuer’s treasury has surpassed 75,000. The Bitcoins were purchased at an average price of $30,305.
Tether’s Bitcoin reserves are now valued at $5.3 billion. Its Bitcoin wallet is also up 128%, with unrealized profits amounting to over $2,94 billion.
Tether has been actively strengthening its Bitcoin reserves since the first quarter of 2023. The firm has also unveiled plans to invest up to 15% of its corporate profits generated from excess USDT reserves in Bitcoin. According to Tether, this will help diversify the stablecoin’s backing assets.
According to data from Bitinfocharts, this acquisition makes Tether the seventh largest Bitcoin holder in the world. At the time of publication, Binance’s cold wallet held the first position, valued at $17.31 billion.
“The decision to invest in Bitcoin, the world’s first and largest cryptocurrency, is underpinned by its strength and potential as an investment asset,” Tether CEO Paulo Ardoino has previously said regarding Tether’s strategy to invest in Bitcoin.
“Our investment in Bitcoin is not only a way to enhance the performance of our portfolio, but it is also a method of aligning ourselves with a transformative technology that has the potential to reshape the way we conduct business and live our lives.”
In its Q4 report for 2023, the firm revealed that Bitcoin contributed $2.8 billion to its consolidated reserves. In November 2023, the firm revealed its intention to venture into cryptocurrency mining, with plans to invest in Bitcoin mining facilities. The announcement noted that Tether’s goal is to establish mining operations in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador.
The development follows Tether’s USDT hitting a record market cap of $100 billion on March 4, following a 9% year-to-date growth rate.
Furthermore, Tether also announced on March 26 the launch of its dedicated AI division. The company will develop open-source AI models and collaborate with other firms to incorporate these into commercial offerings.
