On March 20, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino published data on his X showing that the company purchased more U.S. treasuries than Canada, retaining $33.1 billion in U.S. government debt.
The data showed how Tether’s influence has taken over traditional financial markets by comparing its holdings against sovereign countries. The Cayman Islands, France, and Luxembourg emerged as the top buyers, while some nations, like China and Japan, cut their stakes.
The Cayman Islands was the largest buyer of U.S. Treasuries in 2024, accumulating more than $100 billion, Tether’s CEO noted despite this win.
Ardoino noted that the large Treasury purchases in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg were not under the sole name of a single entity. Instead, these figures cover many hedge funds and other financial institutions based in such areas, all purchasing U.S. Treasuries independently.
He said, “Indeed, Lux and Cayman numbers include all the hedge funds buying into t-bills.”
The other largest buyers were France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
Tether has invested significantly in U.S. Treasury bonds, which are considered safe and liquid assets, to help maintain the functionality of its USDT stablecoin. These bonds provide enough collateral for USDT to ensure that they are stable and fully backed. According to financial reports, Tether holds about $94 billion in U.S. Treasuries as of December 2024.