Key Takeaways
- • Tether's excess reserves fell from $8.23 billion on March 31, 2026 to $4.11 billion on June 30, 2026, a 50.1% drop in ninety-one days while liabilities moved only $106 million, leaving a buffer of just 2.2% of liabilities.
- • Tether and Fasanara Capital announced StableFund on September 9, an evergreen Cayman Islands private-credit vehicle anchored by $400 million of co-investment and targeting up to $3 billion of third-party institutional capital, with Tether acting as originator and advisor.
- • Tether's secured loans rose to $17.04 billion at year-end 2025 and stood at $13.45 billion on June 30, 2026, about 3.3 times the reported buffer, despite a 2022 pledge to eliminate them.
- • The GENIUS Act restricts permitted payment stablecoin issuers' reserves and bars their pledging or rehypothecation, and the piece argues StableFund sits just outside that framework, with the Tether share of the $400 million undisclosed.
- • The third-quarter attestation, expected around the end of October, will show whether the buffer recovered and whether StableFund's commitment appears in reserve reporting.
Summary
On September 9, Tether and Fasanara Capital announced StableFund, described as a "Tether-Fasanara Lending Fund," an evergreen private-credit vehicle anchored by $400 million of co-investment from both sponsors and targeting up to $3 billion of third-party institutional capital. Tether will act as "Originator and Advisor," sourcing USD₮-linked financing and providing stablecoin settlement infrastructure. The fund will lend to fintech platforms in more than 60 countries against small-business loans, consumer credit, trade receivables and supply-chain finance, and is domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The release does not disclose how much of the $400 million is Tether's.
Six weeks earlier, on July 31, Tether published its attestation for June 30, reporting total assets of $187.75 billion and total liabilities of $183.64 billion. The resulting excess reserves of $4.11 billion compared with $8.23 billion on March 31, a figure Tether had headlined as an all-time high. According to the attestation detail reported by BDO, the decline reflected movements across reserve categories rather than redemptions. Gold and bitcoin holdings totalling $24.6 billion, measured against the buffer, mean that a roughly 17% move in those two assets would erase the surplus. BDO's equity bridge shows a financial result of minus $3.17 billion over the half-year. Tether has pointed to a $10 billion 2025 profit and a KPMG-audited surplus of $6.814 billion at December 31, 2025.
Secured loans within the reserves have also grown. Tether pledged in December 2022 to reduce them to zero during 2023. They stood at $8.19 billion at the end of 2024 and $17.04 billion at the end of 2025, then fell to $13.45 billion on June 30, 2026. A Bloomberg report, summarised by AMBCrypto, put Gold.com's obligations to Tether at about $1.45 billion at the end of June. Tether has also said it extended roughly $1.5 billion of commodity trade credit and planned to expand that lending.
Under the GENIUS Act, signed July 18, 2025, permitted payment stablecoin issuers' reserves are limited to cash, insured deposits, short-dated Treasury bills, overnight repos and government money-market funds, and reserves may not be pledged or rehypothecated. Treasury's proposed issuance rule was published August 18, with comments due October 19, and the Act is expected to take effect January 18, 2027. Tether has launched USAT, a separate compliant token issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, while stating USDT is progressing towards compliance. The commentary argues that StableFund sits outside the reserve perimeter but that Tether's role as originator and rail provider still raises reserve-adequacy questions. The third-quarter attestation, due around the end of October, will show whether the buffer recovered and whether StableFund's commitment appears in reserve reporting.
Six weeks earlier, on July 31, Tether published its attestation for June 30, reporting total assets of $187.75 billion and total liabilities of $183.64 billion. The resulting excess reserves of $4.11 billion compared with $8.23 billion on March 31, a figure Tether had headlined as an all-time high. According to the attestation detail reported by BDO, the decline reflected movements across reserve categories rather than redemptions. Gold and bitcoin holdings totalling $24.6 billion, measured against the buffer, mean that a roughly 17% move in those two assets would erase the surplus. BDO's equity bridge shows a financial result of minus $3.17 billion over the half-year. Tether has pointed to a $10 billion 2025 profit and a KPMG-audited surplus of $6.814 billion at December 31, 2025.
Secured loans within the reserves have also grown. Tether pledged in December 2022 to reduce them to zero during 2023. They stood at $8.19 billion at the end of 2024 and $17.04 billion at the end of 2025, then fell to $13.45 billion on June 30, 2026. A Bloomberg report, summarised by AMBCrypto, put Gold.com's obligations to Tether at about $1.45 billion at the end of June. Tether has also said it extended roughly $1.5 billion of commodity trade credit and planned to expand that lending.
Under the GENIUS Act, signed July 18, 2025, permitted payment stablecoin issuers' reserves are limited to cash, insured deposits, short-dated Treasury bills, overnight repos and government money-market funds, and reserves may not be pledged or rehypothecated. Treasury's proposed issuance rule was published August 18, with comments due October 19, and the Act is expected to take effect January 18, 2027. Tether has launched USAT, a separate compliant token issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, while stating USDT is progressing towards compliance. The commentary argues that StableFund sits outside the reserve perimeter but that Tether's role as originator and rail provider still raises reserve-adequacy questions. The third-quarter attestation, due around the end of October, will show whether the buffer recovered and whether StableFund's commitment appears in reserve reporting.
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