Stablecoin issuers hold more US debt than Berkshire Hathaway: report

Tether, Circle and other stablecos held $80 billion in short-term US government debt as of May 2022, more than held by Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway.

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Stable coin issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle have amassed a significant share of the US Treasury market, outperforming major traditional financial players.

Various stablecoin providers collectively held $80 billion in short-term U.S. government debt as of May 2022, according to research by investment bank JPMorgan published Aug. 16.

Tether, Circle and other stablecos accounted for 2% of the total US Treasuries market, holding a larger share of Treasuries than the entirety held by Warren Buffett's investment giant Berkshire Hathaway .

Stablecoin issuers also outperformed offshore money market funds and blue-chip money market funds in terms of the proportion of investment in treasury bills, according to the data.

United States Bond Investor Composition Treasure. Source: JPMorgan

Considered to be low-risk assets, treasury bills are debt instruments commonly used by companies as cash equivalents on corporate balance sheets. Tether and Circle – the issuers of the world's largest asset-backed stablecoins, Tether and USD Coin (USDC), – have pledged to buy US Treasuries while reducing reliance on commercial paper more early this year.

The move came amid uncertainty surrounding algorithmic stablecoins caused by TerraUSD (formerly UST) losing its peg to the US dollar in May 2022.

Unlike algorithmic stablecoins, which rely on algorithms and sm...