Tether CEO says company holds 150,000 Bitcoin and backs mining expansion

Paolo Ardoino put the stablecoin issuer's Bitcoin stash at $11.5 billion, a sharp climb from earlier 2026 disclosures.

Mon 2 Nov 2026 · 20:13 EST · 2 min read

In Finance

Tether is looking to deepen its involvement in the Bitcoin ecosystem by expanding its mining operations and developing decentralized technologies. The company already holds approximately 150,000 BTC, CEO Paolo Ardoino said at this year’s Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano.

“Tether is one of the biggest supporters of the Bitcoin ecosystem. In order to be, we have, give or take, 150,000 Bitcoin ourselves, it’s not much, but it’s honest work,” Ardoino said.

With Bitcoin now hovering around $77,000, the stablecoin giant’s stash is valued at about $11.5 billion.

From 100,000 to 150,000 in one year

Earlier in 2026, Tether’s disclosures put its Bitcoin holdings somewhere between 96,000 and 100,000 BTC. Getting to roughly 150,000 means adding tens of thousands of coins in a single calendar year.

The dollar figures tell a similar story. Tether’s Q3 attestation valued its Bitcoin reserves at $8.37 billion as of September 30, up from an estimated $5.8 billion at the end of Q2 2026.

Tether has been buying since May 2023, when it adopted a policy of directing up to 15% of its quarterly net profits into Bitcoin.

Some of those purchases have been large enough to stand out on their own. On December 31, 2025, Tether picked up 8,888 BTC, a buy valued at approximately $780 million at the time.

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Tether expands mining technology push to support smaller Bitcoin operators

Ardoino said the company wants to make mining accessible to smaller operators while supporting large-scale facilities through open-source tools.

The company has invested in and helped build one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining operations, Ardoino said. Its Mining Development Kit is an open-source framework designed to handle mining operations of different sizes and configurations.

Tether has also signed 15 MOUs with major mining equipment manufacturers that are building on the platform, according to the CEO.

Beyond mining, Ardoino highlighted Holepunch, a peer-to-peer software and communications stack that enables applications to operate without centralized servers. He said the technology can support financial services, AI and telecommunications, while allowing developers to build applications that reach large numbers of users.

Keet, a messaging platform built on the technology, has attracted several million downloads and hosts chat rooms with hundreds of thousands of participants, he added.

Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.