Tether: Berkshire Hathaway in the Digital Dollar Era (A Complete Analysis of its Industry Landscape)

Author: Kathy.xyz

The news that Tether had completed its first audit was interpreted by the market as a sign of a planned IPO, which also caused Circle's stock price to plummet.

I just finished reading @snapcrakle's article from two days ago, "Tether is not a stablecoin company," which is the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Tether in recent times. https://x.com/Snapcrackle/status/2036070394650644722

This article is a translation based on Snapcrakle's original text, with my own interpretation added.

TLDR: @tether This company, founded in 2014, started by issuing the world's largest stablecoin, USDT, and has now evolved into a diversified conglomerate spanning currency issuance, blockchain infrastructure, energy, and Bitcoin hash power.

Core business: USDT, the undisputed leader in stablecoins.

Tether's core product, USDT, is the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization and a fundamental pillar of liquidity in the crypto market.

As of 2026, the key data for USDT is as follows:

Total circulating supply: US$186 billion

Global users: Over 550 million

Total on-chain transfers in 2025: $13.3 trillion (approximately 40% of the global stablecoin flow of $33 trillion).

Small payments under $1,000: $156 billion (primarily from users in emerging markets)

Tether's business model is built on "reserve interest": each USDT is backed by an equivalent amount of fiat currency reserves (mainly US Treasury bonds), and the interest generated from these reserves constitutes the company's core source of revenue.

In 2025, Tether, with only 300 employees, achieved a net profit of over $10 billion, making it one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Tether now holds more U.S. Treasury bonds than Germany, making it an institutional investor that cannot be ignored in the U.S. Treasury market.

Industry Landscape: From Stablecoins to Full-Stack Infrastructure

Tether's strategic expansion follows a clear vertical integration logic—starting with currency issuance, extending upwards to the blockchain clearing layer, and downwards to energy and computing infrastructure.

💵Issuing Layer: USDT

USDT is Tether's core asset and the source of funding for all its expansion. Through the float generated by USDT reserves, Tether is able to continuously invest in new businesses without relying on external financing.

🏦Clearance Layer: Plasma @Plasma

In 2025, Tether launched its self-developed Layer-1 blockchain, Plasma. Peged to Bitcoin, Plasma is designed specifically for stablecoin payments: it supports EVM compatibility, zero-fee USDT transfers, and proactively eliminates speculative features such as NFTs and Meme coins. The strategic significance of this chain lies in the fact that Tether no longer relies on third-party networks like Ethereum for USDT settlement, but instead maintains control over the clearing and settlement of its own currency.

⛏️Hashrate and Energy Layer: Bitcoin Mining

Tether has invested over $2 billion in Bitcoin mining and energy infrastructure, and currently holds over 100,000 Bitcoins. CEO Paolo Ardoino has publicly stated that Tether's goal is to become the world's largest Bitcoin miner by the end of the year. Geographically, Tether has already established mining farms in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Tether also open-sourced its self-developed mining operating system MOS, further strengthening its influence in the mining ecosystem.

🪙Reserve Layer: Diversified Asset Allocation

Tether retains 95% of its profits for reinvestment, creating a diversified reserve system primarily composed of US Treasury bonds, supplemented by gold and Bitcoin. This allocation strategy is highly similar to Berkshire Hathaway's "float-driven investment" logic.

Strategic investment layout

Tether has invested in over 100 companies across a wide range of sectors:

Plasma Funding Round: Led by Peter Thiel, the round raised a total of $500 million, demonstrating top-tier capital's recognition of Tether's infrastructure strategy.

Energy infrastructure: Deploying renewable energy mining farms in multiple Latin American countries, linking mining costs to clean energy;

Open Source Ecosystem: Fostering an industry ecosystem through the open source mining OS (MOS) and enhancing influence on Bitcoin mining standards.

Emerging Market Financial Services: Invested in multiple payment channel providers and crypto banks in Africa and Latin America, opening up downstream channels.

Precious metals and Bitcoin infrastructure: Its asset reserves include holdings in publicly traded companies Elemental Altu and Gold.com, Twenty One Capital, and the Bitcoin-backed lending platform Ledn.

Emerging technology sectors: quite diverse, including Generative Bionics (an AI-driven prosthetics and bionics company), Neura Robotics (humanoid robots), Blackrock Neurotech (a brain-computer interface medical device company), and Rumble (a video media platform).

Conclusion: The Key to Tether's Success

Tether's success completely deviates from mainstream Western investment and financing paths. Its growth is rooted in the demand for US dollars from many developing countries, which has been successfully translated into adoption of USDT. This is entirely unknown to Americans accustomed to the dollar standard.

Tether's CEO, @paoloardoino, has a highly forward-thinking vision, and his bold investments and strategic moves in recent years have further strengthened Tether's competitive advantage.