Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT by market cap, announced on October 13, 2022 that it has “eliminated commercial paper from its reserves, replacing these investments with U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills).”
This announcement “comes as part of Tether’s ongoing efforts to increase transparency, with investor protection at the core of the management of Tethers’ reserves.” Tether claims that reducing commercial papers to zero “demonstrates Tether’s commitment to backing its tokens with the most secure reserves in the market.”
The company’s management wrote in a blog post that this latest move is “a step towards even greater transparency and trust, not only for Tether but for the entire stablecoin industry.”
Tether further noted that they’ve “led the industry in transparency releasing attestations every three months, constantly reviewing the make up of its reserves.” In the last quarters Tether reportedly “reduced its exposure to commercial paper holdings constantly and without any losses.”
On July 1, 2022, the firm had “shared an update on its progress in further reducing its commercial paper portfolio to a low of $3.5B, which was on track with Tether’s commitment to the community.” On September 30, the company “announced it was below $50M in commercial paper holdings.”
Today, the goal “to bring the figure down to zero has been fulfilled.”
As covered earlier this month, Tether provided an update on the assets backing the digital currency.
According to a tweet by Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CTO, as of September 30, 2022, Tether “held approximately 58.1% of assets in US Treasuries up from 43% in June.”
Commercial paper exposure is now “said to be less than $50 million” (as reported on October 3, 2022).
Ardoino added to his Tweet with the following statement:
“As promised, Tether will once again demonstrate a commitment to transparency in our next quarterly attestation. Portfolio updates to look out for include a reduction in commercial papers, now making up less than $50M of its reserves and the holding of 58.1% of its assets in US Treasury Bills. In the upcoming attestation report, Tether will continue to validate the business, the strength of its reserves, and further solidify its position as the industry’s leading stablecoin.”
Tether has battled allegations of shortfalls in its reserves backing the stablecoin for years. The stablecoin is typically used as an on/off ramp for individuals trading in crypto markets. Tether is the 3rd largest crypto by market cap following Bitcoin and Ethereum. Its biggest competitor, USDC issued by Circle, is the 4th largest crypto.