Tether's latest quarterly figures show the company is losing money and is effectively insolvent.

This is a cropping problem rather than a data dispute. The same reporting that notes Tether's excess reserve buffer falling by roughly half also reports about $1.5 billion in operating profit for the quarter, attributed largely to yield on US Treasury holdings, alongside additions of about 14 metric tons of gold and roughly 1,800 bitcoin to reserves. A second outlet reports the same profit figure independently. A falling excess buffer is worth scrutiny: it is the cushion above the reserves nominally backing outstanding tokens, and a smaller cushion means less margin for mark-to-market moves in gold and bitcoin holdings. But "smaller cushion" and "insolvent" are separate claims, and only the first is supported. The broader caveat stands regardless of the quarter: Tether's figures come from its own attestations rather than a full audit, so the appropriate scepticism is about verification standards, not about an invented loss.

Tether reported roughly $1.5 billion in operating profit for the second quarter, largely from US Treasury yield, and added gold and bitcoin to reserves. Its excess reserve buffer fell by about half over the quarter.

Tether's disclosures remain attestations rather than a full audit, so the granular composition and custody of reserves cannot be independently verified from public documents, and the reason for the buffer decline is not fully explained.