Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, has published its newest attestation, which claims that it’s making nearly $1 billion each quarter in returns from its reserves. This is apparently driven by the increase in rates for its large treasury holdings, with a claimed $56.6 billion in exposure to US treasuries.
These claimed profits have allowed the company to perform the accounting trick of moving its secured loans to “excess reserves” which Tether seemingly believes are not part of the reserves, despite the name, according to media outlet Protos.
In December of last year, Tether stated that “throughout 2023, it will reduce secured loans in Tether’s reserves to zero.”
Tether’s description of its reserves now attempts to exclude secured loans it’s still engaged in by reclassifying them as “excess reserves”, allowing it to maintain billions in secured loans while claiming it’s reducing exposure to zero.