CoinShares Fires Back at Arthur Hayes, Dismisses Fears Over Tether Solvency

CoinShares fired back at Arthur Hayes and S&P Global for claims that Tether may be at risk at solvency. This comes as new data out of the stablecoin issuer highlights that such concerns may be overstated.

CoinShares Says Tether’s Balance Sheet Is Strong

In a new post, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill brushed aside the doubts concerning the company. He said both market fears and recent ratings actions do not reflect the company’s financial position.

“Although stablecoin risks should never be dismissed outright, the current data do not indicate systemic vulnerability,” Butterfill said.

He noted Tether has about $181 billion in reserves and roughly $174.45 billion in liabilities. This gives it a surplus of nearly $6.8 billion. Butterfill pointed out that Tether is one of the most profitable companies in the sector. They generated nearly $10 billion in profit during the first three quarters of 2025.

Butterfill said the numbers “do not suggest the kind of systemic weakness” raised by critics. But he added that risks inherent to stablecoins shouldn’t be ignored.

The rebuttal comes after criticism from the BitMEX co-founder, Arthur Hayes. He noted that the company is repositioning its reserves in front of an expected Federal Reserve rate-cut cycle. Hayes says that Tether’s increasing investment in Bitcoin and gold could put pressure on its financial safety if the prices of these assets fall.

S&P Global Ratings added to the concern by lowering Tether’s score for maintaining its value from constrained to weak. It pointed to Tether’s rising risk due to these unstable assets and warned that a drop in Bitcoin prices could weaken the strength of its financial backup.

Paolo Ardoino Defends Company Position, Reveals Equity Cushion

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino shot back with detailed financial data highlighting that the larger firm’s Group controls about $215 billion in total assets. He said the company’s equity contains roughly $7 billion in excess reserves plus an additional $23 billion in retained earnings.

He also shared that only 12.6% of the reserves are Bitcoin and gold while more than 70% remain in short-term U.S. Treasuries. Ardoino amented the fact that S&P overlooked group equity and failed to recognize the approximately $500 million in monthly profit derived from Treasury yields.

He described the negative feedback as pressure from competitors and said the company has too much capital and no bad financial assets.

In September, Tether announced its plan to raise $20 billion by selling a 3% ownership stake. This put it among major global tech companies.