Stablecoin issuer Tether claims to have reduced its commercial paper holdings to zero, replaced with US Treasury bills, after saying it would by the end of 2022
Tether had been reducing commercial paper in stages: its CTO said the share fell from 44% to about 30% of reserves, and a subsequent accounting-firm report still listed $20.1B in commercial paper. The reported move to Treasury bills completes that stated transition from private short-term debt.
The reserve change matters because later coverage kept Tether’s asset-risk practices in focus, including its plan to end loans denominated in USDT before it subsequently resumed client lending. Replacing one reserve exposure does not resolve questions about other uses of its balance sheet.
First-order effects
Tether’s reported USDT reserve mix no longer includes commercial paper, replacing an asset class that had still totaled $20.1B in its March disclosure with US Treasury bills.
USDT holders now have a simpler stated reserve composition to assess: Tether’s claim centers on Treasury-bill holdings rather than the credit quality of commercial-paper issuers.
Second-order effects
Attention on Tether’s reserves shifts from the makeup of its commercial-paper portfolio to whether its Treasury-bill position and other balance-sheet activities are consistently disclosed and supported.
Tether’s later return to client lending shows that scrutiny of USDT’s risk profile can migrate from reserve assets to lending practices even after commercial paper is removed.
Third-order effects
If comparable issuers adopt the same allocation, stablecoin reserve quality will increasingly be judged by reliance on sovereign short-term debt rather than private credit instruments.
The broader governance challenge becomes whether reserve composition alone is sufficient when issuers can add risk through lending or other asset deployment.
The trend: Stablecoin issuers are moving reserve narratives toward government securities, while oversight concerns broaden from asset labels to the full range of balance-sheet risk.
BREAKING: Tether is proud to announce that we have completely eliminated commercial paper from our reserves. This is evidence of our commitment to back our tokens with the most secure, liquid reserves in the market. (1/3) https://tether.to/...
Last few months for Tether: 1/ - proved to be the only company to be able to pay 7B in 48 hours = 10% reserves, peak at 20B = 25% of reserves in 30 days. Ask your bank or other stablecoins if they can do that, in same time frame of course. Paper != Facts 🦗 🦗 🦗 https://twitter.com…
I wonder how that hedge fund is doing that decided tether was a massive short. Pretty poor use of capital with so many other trades you could have placed instead. https://twitter.com/...
Tether Slashes Commercial Paper to Zero. @Tether_to went from $30 billion in CP to zero. The current t-bill and short term fixed income portfolio backing USDt reserves looks less risky to me than most bank balance sheets. Well done Tether team! 💪🚀 Read: https://tether.to/... http…
2/ - usage of $USDt in developing countries is increasing by the day, with focus on unbanked and emerging markets - gap with 2nd biggest competitor, back at 23B - reduced commercial papers exposure to ZERO
This announcement further ensures that Tether has a diversified portfolio with limits to exposure to higher-risk assets. It demonstrates Tether's commitment to lead by example, as part of our ongoing push toward increased transparency for the stablecoin industry. (3/3)
Don't forget, when you have Tethers you literally hold absolutely nothing. They can refuse redemption for no reason, per the fine print. Not to mention their history of outright lying about their reserves. https://t.co/HFJmQ3vx58
Tether truthers in complete disbelief. @Tether_to sells all its paper and buys the safest asset on planet earth. Literally deemed the risk free rate in investing. Tether truthers are parasites. https://twitter.com/...
Tether is magic. Bitfinex/Tether, with billions of dollars seized for bank fraud & money laundering, executives under criminal investigation for bank fraud, somehow magically unloaded all of their undisclosed secret commercial paper with zero losses. H/t @GeorgeWegwitz https://tw…