Tether earns $1.5B in Q2 as US Treasury holdings fuel profits

Stablecoin issuer Tether generated another multibillion-dollar quarter as income from its US Treasury portfolio continued to bolster earnings, even as the broader crypto market remained under pressure.Tether’s latest quarterly attestation, released Friday, reported a net operating profit of $1.5 billion for the second quarter, driven primarily by interest earned on US Treasury holdings and repurchase agreements, or short-term loans backed by government securities.The company also reported a reserve buffer of $4.11 billion as of June 30, meaning its assets exceeded liabilities by that amount.Despite a broader contraction in the stablecoin market, the circulating supply of USDt (USDT) increased by $446 million during the quarter to $184.6 billion, allowing Tether to maintain more than 60% of the global stablecoin market, according to the attestation. The total stablecoin market was valued at roughly $307 billion as of Friday, according to DeFiLlama data.Tether remains one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury securities, which have become the backbone of its reserve portfolio. The company has benefited from elevated short-term interest rates, which boosted income from Treasur...