Tether doubles Q3 ‘equity,’ owns ‘give or take’ 50,000 more BTC

TL;DR: Tether nearly doubled its equity to just under $8 billion in Q3 2026 on BTC gains, but Ardoino’s claim of ~150,000 BTC exceeds the attestation by ~50,000, and GENIUS-compliant reserves fell to 72.9%. Former CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde topped the Dutch Quote 500 with a net worth of €26 billion (US$29 billion). Tether nearly doubled its ‘equity’ in the third quarter of 2026, largely on the strength of its BTC token treasury, and the company claims it’s not even counting the other BTC it has stashed away somewhere secret.