Tether posts $1.04B profit and record $8.23B reserve buffer in Q1 2026
Tether posted $1.04 billion in Q1 2026 net profit and a record Tether profit reserve buffer of $8.23 billion, backed primarily by $141 billion in US Treasuries, in a quarterly attestation published May 1 by accounting firm BDO, its most detailed financial disclosure to date.
- Tether profit of $1.04 billion in Q1 represents a buffer growth of 47% year on year, with excess reserves rising from $5.6 billion in Q1 2025 to $8.23 billion in Q1 2026 and total assets reaching $191.77 billion against $183.54 billion in liabilities.
- The $141 billion US Treasuries position makes Tether the 17th-largest holder of American government debt globally, with $20 billion in physical gold and $7 billion in Bitcoin rounding out the reserve base.
- A formal KPMG audit commenced in March 2026, moving Tether toward a full Big Four audit for the first time after years of relying on attestations from BDO and a previous Italian accounting firm.
Tether profit and reserve figures were published in the company’s Q1 2026 attestation on May 1. The official Tether press release confirmed that the attestation was prepared by BDO and showed a net profit of approximately $1.04 billion and an excess reserve buffer of $8.23 billion. “Our responsibility is to make sure USDT works without compromise,” said CEO Paolo Ardoino. “That means building a system that behaves the same way in any market condition, not just when things are stable.” The Q1 profit is driven by Tether’s $141 billion Treasury position, which at prevailing Treasury bill rates above 4% would generate approximately $4 billion in annualised interest income.
The timing of the disclosure is politically consequential. As crypto.news reported, US banks have been pushing hard to slow the GENIUS Act rulemaking, partly because the act would require stablecoin issuers to hold fully verified dollar reserves. Tether has long resisted full disclosure and has never produced a Big Four audit. The KPMG engagement announced in March 2026 is the clearest sign yet that the company is preparing for the formal audit standard the GENIUS Act is expected to require. As crypto.news documented, the FDIC proposed GENIUS Act rules requiring stablecoin issuers to maintain 1:1 reserves backed by cash or highly liquid instruments, a standard Tether’s reserve breakdown technically meets but which requires full audit verification rather than an attestation to satisfy regulators and institutional counterparties. As crypto.news tracked, the GENIUS Act was signed into law in July 2025 and is scheduled to take full effect no later than January 18, 2027, giving Tether a finite runway to produce verified compliance.
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