Tether earned roughly $1.5 billion in net operating profit during the second quarter of 2026, but its excess reserve cushion — the buffer above liabilities — more than halved from a record $8.23 billion to $4.11 billion. Total assets stood at $187.75 billion on June 30, down from $191.77 billion three months earlier, according to the quarterly attestation prepared by accounting firm BDO. The report marks a shift in disclosure: Tether used the term 'net operating profit' instead of 'net profit' and left out the specific asset-class breakdowns it provided in Q1.
A thinner cushion
The $4.11 billion reserve buffer is well below the $6.3 billion Tether carried at the end of 2025. Tether didn't explain the decline, but the drop likely stems from unrealized losses on its gold and Bitcoin holdings, or from outflows. The company's gold is now described only as 'more than 146 tons' — no dollar value. Its U.S. Treasury holdings are called a 'majority share' of reserves without a specific figure. In Q1, Tether disclosed $141 billion in Treasuries, roughly $20 billion in gold, and about $7 billion in Bitcoin.
What changed in the report
The Q2 attestation uses 'net operating profit' — a narrower measure that excludes mark-to-market swings on assets like gold and Bitcoin. That's a departure from Q1's 'net profit' label. The omission of asset-class values means investors and analysts have less visibility into how Tether's holdings performed during a quarter that saw volatility in both gold and crypto markets. Total liabilities — essentially USDT in circulation — were $183.64 billion, barely changed from the prior quarter.
The audit that's still pending
CEO Paolo Ardoino said in March that 'trust is built when institutions are willing to open themselves fully to scrutiny,' after Tether hired Big Four firm KPMG as its auditor. As of July 31, KPMG's audit process was still ongoing with no completion announced. The Q2 attestation from BDO is not a full audit — it's a review of specific figures. The market is waiting for KPMG to deliver the first audited opinion on Tether's reserves.
Users and the peg
USDT held its peg near $0.9986 during the quarter and maintained a market capitalization of $183.5 billion. Tether said it added over 30 million new users in Q2. The stablecoin remains the largest by market cap, but the shrinking reserve buffer and the lack of a completed Big Four audit leave open questions about the strength of that cushion. The next milestone: KPMG's audit. No date has been set for its release.
