Stablecoin issuer Tether has notched a record quarterly net profit at a time during which the company is broadening its scope. Tether tallied an all-time high net profit of $4.52 billion in the first quarter, according to a Wednesday attestation report by auditing firm BDO. Tether’s first quarter net operating profits of $1 billion were driven by its US Treasury holdings, the company added. Other profits stemmed from mark-to-market gains in its bitcoin and gold positions.Bitcoin’s price hit a new peak of about $73,000 in mid-March before trending downward in April.The $4.52 billion total obliterates the former record of $2.85 billion in net profit gathered during the last three months of 2023.Read more: Tether made nearly $1B in monthly profit during Q4Tether’s token, USDT, is intended to maintain a value of $1 and can be redeemed for US dollars at any time. As of March 31, Tether’s reserves were nearly $6.3 billion higher than the liabilities of the companies issuing USDT. USDT’s market capitalization was roughly $110 billion at 10 am ET, behind only bitcoin and ether among crypto assets. That figure is more than triple the $33 billion market cap of competing stablecoin USDC. The latest disclosure comes as Tether seeks to build out its business beyond just stablecoins.Read more: Tether looks to ‘build the next generation of open AI models’ with new data divisionIt recently launched a data initiative focused on developing and investing in new technology, for example. Other new divisions include a unit focused on blockchain-based financial infrastructure and one involved in the mining and energy sectors. “With this evolution beyond our traditional stablecoin offerings, we are ready to build and support the invention and implementation of cutting-edge technology that removes the limitations of what’s possible in this world,” CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement last month.
