I just noticed a pretty interesting phenomenon. Tether, the stablecoin company, is expected to become one of the top ten buyers of U.S. Treasury securities this year, reflecting the increasingly important role of the crypto ecosystem in traditional financial markets.

Bo Hines shared this information at the New York Bitcoin Investor Week. He was previously a cryptocurrency advisor to the White House and is now the head of Tether’s U.S. division. He mentioned that Tether’s purchases of Treasury securities are growing rapidly and are expected to continue increasing, eventually making it one of the top ten global holders of Treasury securities.

It’s quite shocking to hear. About 83% of Tether’s reserves are in U.S. Treasury securities, totaling over $122 billion. This scale has already placed Tether among the top 20 holders of Treasury securities worldwide, comparable to some countries. For example, Tether’s holdings are approaching the levels of countries like Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Why is this happening? It’s simple. Stablecoins like USDT need real assets backing them to maintain their fixed value of $1. Currently, the global circulating market cap of USDT is about $18.416 billion, with 530 million users, and approximately 30 million new users are added each quarter. This growth rate means Tether must continuously increase its holdings of highly liquid assets like Treasury securities.

According to data from BDO, an accounting firm, Tether also holds about $6.3 billion in excess reserves. Additionally, the company owns roughly 140 tons of gold, making Tether the 13th largest gold holder in the world. These assets provide a solid foundation for its stablecoin ecosystem.

Interestingly, the newly launched USAT stablecoin may further accelerate Tether’s Treasury purchases. USAT is designed under the U.S. GENIUS Act, which requires stablecoins to be fully backed 1:1 by high-quality liquid assets. Hines was involved in drafting this legislation during his time at the White House, and now he is responsible for adjusting Tether’s reserves to meet these new regulatory standards.

Tether has designed USDT and USAT to operate synergistically, called “mutual compatibility.” This means the two stablecoins can function smoothly within the same system. As USAT’s market cap reaches $27.79 million, this ecosystem is gradually expanding.

This trend is worth paying attention to. Large-scale holdings of Treasury securities by stablecoin companies not only reflect the deep integration of the crypto market into traditional finance but also indicate that regulatory frameworks are gradually improving. For those interested in crypto assets, these developments are worth following on Gate and monitoring related project updates.