Tether CEO Says Company Holds About 150,000 Bitcoin, 50,000 More Than Report Implies

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company owns “give or take 150,000 Bitcoin” during the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano. Bitcoin Magazine put the holdings’ value at about $11.5 billion.

The figure is notably higher than the 100,060 BTC implied by Tether’s Q3 reserve report—an apparent gap of roughly 50,000 bitcoin. The available reports do not explain the difference.

Why do Tether’s bitcoin figures differ?

The contrast is between Ardoino’s public estimate and the amount readers can infer from the company’s reserve report. The information provided does not say whether the figures cover different dates, categories of holdings, or reporting methods, so the gap should not be treated as evidence of a specific accounting issue.

For people who use Tether’s USDT, the distinction matters because reserve disclosures are meant to help explain what backs the stablecoin. But this reported bitcoin holding is not, by itself, a complete picture of USDT’s reserves or proof of how the gap arose.

What should readers look for next?

The clearest next step would be a Tether explanation reconciling the 150,000-BTC estimate with the Q3 report’s implied 100,060 BTC, including the dates and scope behind each figure. Until then, the two numbers are best understood as differing disclosures rather than a resolved account of the company’s bitcoin position.

The discrepancy is also distinct from exchange-fund movements, such as Binance SAFU’s reported bitcoin decline: that story concerns a user-protection fund, while this one concerns Tether’s own reported holdings.