Thread by @JosephA140

I spent 100’s of hours writing research on tether for @Citi.

@CryptoHayes missed a few key points.

1) 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 =/ 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬

When tether generates $ they have a separate equity balance sheet which they don’t report publicly. The numbers they disclose are under a ‘matching’ philosophy; they’re just showing you how their reserves are backed.

The equity balance is sheet is made up of equity investments, mining operations, corporate reserves & possibly more BTC, with the rest distributed as dividends to shareholders.

2) 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭.

Tether has ~$120bn in interest yielding treasuries which have been yielding ~4% since 2023. That’s ~$10bn in liquid PnL with little cost (150 employees), making it one of the most efficient cash generating businesses in the world.

I’m guessing this would make their equity worth somewhere in the $50-100bn range. Although they’ve reported they’re looking to raise $20bn for 3% which would put them at ~$500bn+ valuation. Probably won’t materialise, and likely overvalued, but still highly valuable equity.

3) 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝟓-𝟏𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟓%+ 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬.

Tether is different but holds similar qualities to a Bank in this regard, and is significantly better collateralised. A key difference is banks are backed by Lender of last resort (Central Bank) but Tether is not.

TLDR: Tether isn’t going insolvent, quite the opposite; they own a money printing machine.