Tether Starts 2026 With an $800M Bitcoin Buy, Quietly Joins Top Holders — Here's How Much They Hold

Key Takeaways

• On Jan. 1, 2026, Tether transferred astir 8,888.8 BTC, worthy astir $778 million, to its treasury wallet arsenic portion of Q4 2025 nett allocation. 

• This purchase, confirmed by CEO Paolo Ardoino, aligns with Tether’s argumentation of investing 15% of its quarterly profits successful Bitcoin since 2023. 

• The summation boosted Tether’s full Bitcoin holdings to implicit 96,000 BTC, valued astatine astir $8.4 billion, ranking it among the apical planetary holders. ”

While overmuch of the crypto marketplace entered the caller twelvemonth connected a cautious footing, Tether wasted nary clip making its intentions clear.

On Jan. 1, the stablecoin elephantine softly added 8,888 Bitcoin to its reserves, a astir $800 cardinal stake that underscores its increasing relation arsenic 1 of Bitcoin’s largest organization holders.

The acquisition pushes Tether’s full BTC stash past 96,000 coins, cementing a strategy that has steadily expanded adjacent arsenic prices stall and different firm buyers propulsion back.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed that the institution accumulated precisely 8,888.8888888 BTC during the quarter, continuing its signifier of symbolic “8888” purchases.

On-chain analysts astatine Arkham Intelligence estimation the full Q4 walk astatine astir $876 million, oregon astir 9,850 BTC, with the quality attributed to timing and consolidation discrepancies.

The accumulation reflects a strategy formalized successful May 2023, nether which Tether allocates up to 15% of its realized quarterly operating profits to Bitcoin arsenic a semipermanent store of worth and reserve diversification tool.

While Tether held Bitcoin anterior to that announcement, the argumentation marked a displacement toward systematic, ongoing accumulation.

The latest acquisition comes arsenic crypto markets cool, with Bitcoin trading beneath $90,000 aft beardown gains earlier successful 2025.

Even so, Tether’s mean acquisition outgo is estimated astatine astir $51,100 per BTC, leaving the institution with much than $3.5 cardinal successful unrealized profits arsenic of aboriginal 2026.

Tether typically builds its Bitcoin presumption gradually passim each quarter, often done Bitfinex withdrawals, earlier consolidating funds into its main reserve wallet adjacent quarter-end oregon soon after.

Corporate adoption of Bitcoin arsenic a treasury plus surged aboriginal successful 2025 but mislaid momentum arsenic the twelvemonth wore on.

New adopters fell from astir 53 successful the 3rd 4th to conscionable 9 successful Q4, with November seeing arsenic fewer arsenic 3 caller entrants.

By year-end, an estimated 117 to 145 nationalist companies and institutions held Bitcoin connected their equilibrium sheets.

Collectively, those firms power astir 1.5 cardinal BTC, worthy betwixt $90 cardinal and $150 cardinal astatine existent prices.