|

BitMEX Founder Warns Tether’s Bitcoin Bet Could Trigger USDT Collapse

🤖

Tether’s latest Q3 2025 attestation reveals the stablecoin big now holds roughly $22.8 billion in gold and Bitcoin, a diversification technique that BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes warns might set off USDT’s collapse.

CEO Paolo Ardoino announced the corporate maintains “a multi-billion-dollar extra reserve buffer and an general proprietary Group fairness approaching $30 billion,” however Hayes argues this diversification masks harmful publicity to risky property.

Hayes contends Tether is positioning for Federal Reserve charge cuts that might crush their Treasury earnings.

“The Tether of us are within the early innings of operating a large rate of interest commerce,” Hayes wrote, including that “a roughly 30% decline within the gold + BTC place would wipe out their fairness, after which USDT could be in idea bancrupt.”

Analyst Paul Barron noted that for each 25 foundation level Fed lower, USDT’s annual curiosity earnings drops roughly $318 million based mostly on its $127 billion Treasury publicity.

Tether CEO Fires Back with Detailed Financial Disclosures

In a current X Post, Ardoino swiftly countered Hayes’s insolvency claims with complete information.

“Tether had (at finish of Q3 2025) ~7B in extra fairness (on high of the ~184.5B stablecoin reserves) + one other ~23B in retained earnings as a part of our Tether Group fairness,” the CEO defined.

Tether Group’s whole property attain roughly $215 billion in opposition to $184.5 billion in stablecoin liabilities, with gold and Bitcoin representing simply 12.6% of reserves.

The CEO accused critics of intentionally misrepresenting Tether’s place.

“S&P made the identical mistake of not contemplating the extra Group Equity nor the ~500M in month-to-month base income generated by U.S Treasury yields alone,” Ardoino said, suggesting “some influencers are both unhealthy at math or have the inducement to push our opponents.”

His protection comes after S&P Global downgraded USDT’s peg-stability score from 4 to five on November 26, citing elevated publicity to “high-risk“ property and “persistent gaps in disclosure.“

Industry Veterans Dismantle Tether’s Insolvency Claims

Joseph Ayoub, former head of digital asset analysis at Citi, noted that Tether’s disclosed property don’t symbolize all company holdings.

“Their disclosed property =/ all company property,” he defined, noting Tether maintains a separate fairness steadiness sheet comprising mining operations and company reserves that aren’t publicly reported.

With roughly $120 billion in interest-yielding Treasuries producing roughly 4% returns since 2023, Tether produces round $10 billion in liquid revenue yearly with simply 150 workers.

Ayoub famous that banks function on considerably decrease fractional reserves of 5-15% in liquid property in comparison with Tether’s overcollateralized construction.

His conclusion, “Tether isn’t going bancrupt, fairly the alternative; they personal a cash printing machine.“

S&P Downgrade Sparks Fierce Industry Backlash

Ardoino responded defiantly to S&P’s score motion and recurrent criticism of Tether’s operational mannequin.

“We put on your loathing with delight,” the CEO declared, positioning Tether as “the primary overcapitalized firm within the monetary business, with no poisonous reserves” that proves “the standard monetary system is so damaged that it’s turning into feared by the emperors with no garments.”

He challenged banks to publish their reserve ratios, suggesting they probably include “3 olives and a half chewed gum.“

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski added that “The S&P solely assaults Tether, as a result of Tether is difficult and beating the previous monetary guard at their very own sport.”

The assaults shocked many, contemplating USDT maintained its peg via the 2018 crash, 2022 Terra/Luna collapse, and 2023 banking disaster.

Yet the downgrade carries severe implications.

With a “5” score and MiCA regulations prohibiting USDT from EU exchanges, no main institutional fund can legally maintain the stablecoin.

This might favor opponents like Circle’s USDC, PayPal’s PYUSD, or tokenized fiat alternate options, probably shifting liquidity away from an organization that generated extra internet revenue than BlackRock final 12 months and is tipped to surpass Saudi Aramco in profitability.

The put up BitMEX Founder Warns Tether’s Bitcoin Bet Could Trigger USDT Collapse appeared first on Cryptonews.

Similar Posts