Tether moves 8,888 BTC worth $1 billion into bitcoin reserve wallet, onchain data shows

Stablecoin giant Tether has acquired another 8,888.88 BTC for its bitcoin reserve, according to onchain analysts.

"Tether has bought 8,888.88 BTC worth $1B, on the last day of Q3 2025," Onchain Lens posted to X on Tuesday, citing labeling from analytics platform Nansen for an address beginning "bc1qj." Data from Arkham also labels the address as part of Tether's bitcoin reserves, with the latest funds received from a Bitfinex hot wallet at 11:06 a.m. UTC.

While Tether has yet to publicly confirm the acquisition, the address is associated with the firm's prior bitcoin purchases, and the move is consistent with Tether's pattern of accumulating bitcoin and moving it to its reserve wallet at the end of a quarter. The amount is also familiar, with Tether transferring 8,888 BTC to the same address at the end of the first quarter. 

However, since the BTC came from Bitfinex, a centralized exchange that shares the same parent company, it's unclear if Tether purchased new coins or simply moved existing reserves. The Block reached out to Tether for comment.

Tether began acquiring bitcoin in September 2022. In May 2023, it officially announced that it would allocate 15% of its net profits each quarter toward bitcoin purchases. Since then, the company has consistently increased its reserves as part of its long-term diversification strategy.

If confirmed, the potential acquisition would raise Tether's total holdings to nearly 109,410 BTC, per Bitcoin Treasuries data, worth around $12.4 billion at current prices. That places Tether as the second-largest known private company holder after Block One's 164,000 BTC ($18.5 billion) and third behind Strategy's 640,031 ($72 billion), when including public companies. The Tether-backed bitcoin treasury company Twenty One also currently holds 43,514 BTC worth $4.9 billion.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino previously confirmed at Bitcoin 2025 in May that the stablecoin issuer held over 100,000 BTC in its reserves, alongside more than 50 tons of gold. Ardoino is also CTO of Bitfinex.

The "bc1qj" address is also among the top ten single address holders of bitcoin after several centralized exchange cold wallets and the Mt. Gox hack address.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $113,500, according to The Block's BTC price page.

Ardoino later appeared to confirm the move was a fresh acquisition, responding "yeah" to an X post tracking the onchain transfer alongside a popular meme stating "it ain't much, but it's honest work."

Tether could become 'most profitable company in history' 

Ardoino previously claimed USDT is used by more than 400 million people worldwide, growing at a pace of 35 million wallets per quarter, focused on developing countries while strengthening the U.S. dollar. Tether holds over $127 billion in U.S. Treasurys as of Q2, placing it among the top 20 largest holders, ahead of sovereign nations like the UAE and Germany, and just behind Saudi Arabia, according to Treasury Department statistics.

Tether, whose team of less than 200 generated a profit of approximately $13 billion in 2024, has also been aggressively deploying capital into a variety of projects beyond stablecoins in recent years across sectors, including artificial intelligence, telecommunications, data centers, energy infrastructure, and bitcoin mining. Additionally, the firm recently announced USAT, a new U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin intended to serve American users and complement USDT's global reach.

USDT remains the world's largest stablecoin, with a total supply worth about $175 billion, according to The Block's Data Dashboard.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said Tether could become the "most profitable company in history," reaching $3 trillion in assets and surpassing Saudi Aramco's record $120 billion profit haul in 2024.

Updated with post from Paolo Ardoino.

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