Tether, the $151 billion stablecoin issuance giant, has surpassed Germany in United States Treasury bill holdings, showcasing the benefits of a diversified reserve strategy that has helped the firm navigate the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, USDt (USDT), has surpassed Germany’s $111.4 billion worth of US Treasurys, data from the US Department of the Treasury shows.

Foreign countries by US Treasury holdings. Source: Ticdata.treasury.gov

Tether has surpassed $120 billion worth of Treasury bills, the firm shared in its attestation report for the first quarter of 2025. That makes Tether the 19th largest entity among all counties in terms of T-bill investments.

“This milestone not only reinforces the company’s conservative reserve management strategy but also highlights Tether’s growing role in distributing dollar-denominated liquidity at scale,” wrote Tether in the report. 

Related: Central banks testing smart contract toolkit under BIS Project Pine

During 2024, Tether was the seventh-largest buyer of US Treasurys across all countries, surpassing Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Norway, Hong Kong and numerous other countries, Cointelegraph reported in March 2025.

Source: Paolo Ardoino

Treasurys are debt securities issued by the US government, considered some of the safest and most liquid investments available worldwide. Tether invests in Treasurys as an additional reserve asset for its US dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Related: Paolo Ardoino: Competitors and politicians intend to ‘kill Tether’

Tether’s Treasury, gold portfolio “almost offset” crypto market volatility losses for Q1 2025

Tether’s traditional reserve assets helped the stablecoin giant weather the downside volatility of the crypto market during the first quarter of 2025.

Tether reported over $1 billion in operating profit from “traditional investments” during the first quarter of the year, “driven by solid performance in its US Treasury portfolio, while the performance of Gold has almost offset the volatility in crypto markets,” according to the firm’s attestation report.

Growing clarity around US stablecoin regulations could lead to more investments in Tether’s dollar-denominated stablecoin, part of which will be used to further bolster the firm’s Treasury reserves.

The industry is currently awaiting progress on two pieces of legislation. The Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE) Act currently awaits scheduling for debate and a floor vote in the House of Representatives, after it passed the House Financial Services Committee on April 2 in a 32-17 vote.

However, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, stalled on May 8 after failing to gain support from key Democrats, some of whom voiced concerns about US President Donald Trump’s potential financial interest in clearer crypto regulations, due to his family’s digital asset ventures.

On May 14, at least 60 of the top crypto founders gathered in Washington, DC, to support the GENUIS Act, which seeks to establish collateralization guidelines for stablecoin issuers and requires full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.

Magazine: Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra’s plan to win trust: Hodler’s Digest, April 13 – 19

Dubai’s crypto regulator has given licensed digital asset companies until June 19 to comply with its updated activity-based Rulebooks to enhance market integrity and risk oversight. 

On May 19, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced that it had released Version 2.0 of the Rulebooks. 

The regulator said it had strengthened controls around margin trading and token distribution services, harmonised compliance requirements across all licensed activities and given clearer definitions for collateral wallet arrangements. 

VARA’s team will engage with licensed entities and expects the companies to comply with the updated rules after a 30-day transition period.

“In line with global regulatory best practices, a 30-day transition period has been granted to all impacted virtual asset service providers [VASPs], with full compliance required by 19 June 2025,” VARA wrote.  

VARA enhances supervisory mechanisms

VARA highlighted that it had enhanced supervisory mechanisms across several regulated activities. This includes advisory, broker-dealer, custody, exchange, lending and borrowing, virtual asset (VA) management and investment, and VA transfer and settlement services. 

A VARA spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the updates will bring consistency across all activity-based rules defining core operational terms. The spokesperson gave examples of terms like “client assets,” “qualified custodians,” and “collateral requirements” as some of the terms more consistently defined in the update.  

The update also aligned risk management and disclosure obligations, where activities overlap, in areas like brokerage, custody and exchange.

“The aim was to reduce ambiguity and help VASPs navigate cross-functional compliance more easily,” VARA told Cointelegraph. 

Related: Dubai gov’t agencies to link real estate registry with property tokenization

Dubai regulator tightens leverage thresholds for margin trading

As for margin trading, the VARA spokesperson said they tightened leverage thresholds, mandated clearer collateralisation standards, and enhanced the monitoring obligations for VASPs offering this feature. 

Margin trading allows traders to control large positions with smaller amounts of capital. It amplifies both gains and losses. Tightening the leverage traders use helps limit the risks of widespread liquidations in a market downturn. 

The crypto regulator introduced a new section on token distribution that sets out licensing prerequisites, investor protections and marketing restrictions. The spokesperson emphasized the marketing restrictions, especially for “retail-facing offers.” 

“It’s about aligning with global conduct expectations and closing observed regulatory gaps,” the VARA spokesperson said. 

Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin dropped over 4.5% on May 19, confirming a bearish divergence and threatening a break below $100,000.

Analysts highlight $97,000–$98,500 as key support that the bulls must hold.

A potential inverse head-and-shoulders pattern points to a retest of $91,000 before any bullish continuation.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down over 4.5% from its intraday high on May 19, falling to around $102,000 in its worst daily drop in over a month.

BTC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

BTC’s drop accompanied downside moves elsewhere in the risk market, prompted by Moody’s latest downgrade of the US government due to a rising budget deficit and the lack of a credible fiscal consolidation plan.

The decline confirms a bearish divergence and, combined with other technical factors, raises the risk of a BTC price breakdown below $100,000, a key support level.

Bitcoin’s bearish divergence hints at sub-$100K

Bitcoin’s price action showed technical weakness ahead of its May 19 sell-off.

On May 19, BTC pushed to a new local high above $107,000, but its relative strength index (RSI) printed a lower high, confirming a classic bearish divergence.

Source: Bluntz

This discrepancy between price and momentum is often a precursor to a trend reversal, and in this case, it played out with a swift 4.5% intraday decline. Analyst Bluntz warned traders to “be careful with [placing] longs.”

Swissblock analysts observed that Bitcoin “grabbed liquidity” above the $104,000–$106,000 resistance range but failed to sustain a breakout.

Bitcoin’s price vs. BTC onchain and trading volume. Source: Swissblock

The rejection pushed the price back into a prior volume-heavy zone, with immediate support between $101,500 and $102,500 now under pressure.

Swissblock identifies the $97,000–$98,500 range as a key downside target based on historical onchain volume and trading activity if the $101,500-102,500 area fails to hold.

Bitcoin’s H&S pattern targets $91,000

On the three-day chart, Bitcoin is forming the right shoulder of a potential inverse-head-and-shoulders pattern.

While typically bullish in the long term, this setup implies a short-term retest of the 50-period exponential moving average (50-period EMA; the red wave) near $91,000.

BTC/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView

The chances of such a drop have increased since BTC failed to close above the critical $107,000 neckline level, the same zone that triggered bearish reversals in December 2024 and January 2025.

Related: Metaplanet scoops 1,004 Bitcoin in 2nd-biggest buy ever

A rebound from the $91,000 zone toward the neckline at around $107,000 could increase Bitcoin’s odds of rising toward $150,000.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.