Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino gave his audience a number that invites a recount. In his keynote at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, he said the stablecoin company holds "give or take 150,000 bitcoin". At bitcoin's price near $77,000 on November 3, that stack is worth about $11.5 billion. CoinDesk reported the remark on November 3.
The number is interesting for more than its size. Tether's third-quarter reserve report, prepared by auditor BDO and published October 30, lists $8.37 billion of bitcoin as of September 30. At the $83,621.23 per coin valuation the report uses, that works out to about 100,060 BTC, up roughly 1,130 coins from about 98,930 at the end of June. The gap is about 50,000 BTC.
The 50,000-coin gap is not necessarily a new purchase
Ardoino did not say where the extra coins sit, when they were bought, or through which entities. Without that detail, the gap does not prove Tether just bought 50,000 BTC. There is a duller and more plausible explanation: the reserve report measures a specific entity on a specific date, the reserves backing USDT as of September 30. Holdings outside the USDT reserves, for example through company investments, would not show up in it.
The publicly checkable part is smaller than either figure. Bitcoin.com noted one publicly attributed Tether address, starting bc1qjas, holding 96,932 BTC on November 3. If that attribution is right and the 150,000 claim is right, about 53,000 coins sit somewhere else the public has not identified. That is arithmetic from two assumptions, not evidence.
What is settled, and what still waits for proof
What is settled: Tether has bought bitcoin from profits since May 2023, under a policy of directing up to 15% of quarterly net profits into bitcoin. The third-quarter report also records $191.45 billion in total assets against $183.50 billion in liabilities, $7.95 billion in excess reserves, and $132.4 billion in US Treasury securities including repurchase agreements.
What still waits for proof: a wallet breakdown for the 150,000 figure. Until Tether publishes a wallet list or a later attestation that reconciles the company-wide total, the number remains a CEO's estimate on a stage, not a balance anyone can trace. The next checkpoint is the fourth-quarter attestation, expected around late January 2027. Our Binance reserve-proof article is here. Our CFTC stock-perps article is here.
Sources: CoinDesk (Nov 3, 2026), Bitcoin.com (Nov 3, 2026), TradingView/Crypto Briefing (Nov 3, 2026). Figures and status are snapshots at writing time, early November 4, 2026 WIB, and can change.
Written by Mastechon
Writing about crypto and Super Intelligence: market news, new projects, Super Intelligence models, and early opportunities like airdrops and testnets. Every piece starts from the official announcement, with the costs worked out up front.
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