Tether Secretly Owns Tens Of Thousands Of Bitcoins, This Is According To Crypto Analysts!

Tether, publisher of USDT stablecoins. (Photo; Doc. Coinpedia)

JAKARTA - The cryptocurrency industry has again been shocked by the surprising alleged ownership. Research analyst from 21.co has put forward the possibility that Tether, the company behind stablecoinUSDT, has the 11th largest bitcoin (BTC) address. This news adds to the hot talks in the crypto community about ownership and potential company revenue.

It was reported that in the Tether Guarantee Report for the first quarter of 2023, it was revealed that they had bitcoin reserves worth USD 1.5 billion (IDR 22.7 trillion). However, the latest information from BDO, which released a recent endorsement, showed a significant increase of USD 850 million (IDR 12.9 trillion) in Tether reserves in the second quarter of this year.

On August 3, 2023, Tom Wan, a research analyst at 21.co, caught the public's attention by posting on social media platform X. In the post, he expressed his belief that a certain address in the bitcoin network was linked to Tether. Sources who know firsthand about the matter also confirmed to The Block that Tether is indeed the 11th largest bitcoin holder.

The bitcoin address in question with the initial code "bc1qj," is recorded to have a balance of 55,022.19 BTC, equivalent to a value of 1.6 billion US dollars (Rp24.2 trillion) with the current exchange rate. Although Tether has not provided confirmation or affirmation regarding the ownership of the address, onchain data reveals that many bitcoin transactions come from Bitfinex, a company that has close ties to Tether.

Blockchain explorers have identified the "1Kr6Q" address associated with the Tether bitcoin wallet. The data show that the wallet was previously considered a Bitfinex "hot wallet" that is still in use to date. This provides strong indications that Tether and Bitfinex have links to the ownership of the address.

It should be noted that in May 2023, Tether has announced plans to allocate 15% of its profits to bitcoin. Meanwhile, Bitfinex is also known to manage other bitcoin addresses, "bc1qg," which is the second largest wallet in the world and contains 178,010.08 BTC.

With the alleged ownership of a significant bitcoin address by Tether, the crypto industry is again turbulent. Market participants and observers are now waiting for further developments regarding this issue that could impact the market dynamics and Tether's position in the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.