The issuer of the world’s most popular USD-pegged stablecoin USDT, Tether, bought 1,529 bitcoin (BTC) worth $45.4 million in Q2, as per comments by the company’s CTO cited by Bitcoin Magazine.
The purchase shows that Tether is following through on a plan announced back in May to allocate 15% of quarterly profits to bitcoin.
The bitcoin price was little moved in response to the news and was last hovering in the $29,000s, within recent ranges and down about 8% from the yearly highs it hit back in July in the $31,800s.
In wake of its Q2 buys, Tether now owns 54,000 BTC worth around $1.58 billion.
By contrast, MicroStrategy – widely regarded as one of largest corporate bitcoin whales – currently holds 152,800 BTC, worth nearly $4.5 billion.
Tether’s stash should continue to grow rapidly as it continually funnels 15% of profits into BTC.
But MicroStrategy is also rapidly growing its holdings, meaning it may be tough to close the gap.
The US software giant added purchased 467 bitcoin worth $14.4 million in July alone and recently announced plans to sell as much as $750 million in stock, the proceeds of which would be used, in part, to fund fresh bitcoin purchases.
Assuming MicroStrategy was to raise $750 million and put it all into bitcoin, it could purchase over 25,600 at the current price.
When big companies like Tether and MicroStrategy adopt policies of continually investing a portion of their profits into bitcoin, it adds predictable and constant buy pressure to the market that should help underpin the bitcoin price in the long run.
For now, very few companies have bitcoin investment policies like Tether and MicroStrategy, but this is changing as the cryptocurrency gains broader acceptance as a mainstream asset.
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