Tether vs. Circle： Stablecoin giants have vastly different profit models Tether, with an annual profit of $13 billion and a floating profit of over $4 billion from BTC holdings, is becoming one of the most profitable companies per capita in the world. Behind this is the ultimate comparison between two stablecoin issuance models: ⊙ @ Tetheryto: Ultimate Profit ⊙ @ circle: Ultimate Compliance 👇👇👇 🔹 Tether： The 'Central Mom+Hedge Fund' in the Digital World BTC holdings: 100521 The cost is about 42000 yuan, with a floating profit of about 4 billion yuan on the books Q4 Reserve Report: US Treasury holdings exceed 113 billion yuan, with excess reserves of 7 billion yuan+ Interest income of approximately 7 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 54% of net profit 📌 It is worth noting that Tether includes unrealized floating profits (approximately 5 billion) from Bitcoin and gold in its current profit, which is in line with fair value accounting principles, but also means that its profit is highly dependent on market fluctuations. ➡ In other words, if it rises, it will make a profit; if it falls, it will retreat. This is one of the core differences from the Circle model. 🔹 Circle (USDC) IPO reveals core information Total revenue in 2024: 1.676B The proportion of interest income is as high as 95% -99% The service fee is only 15.17M, accounting for 0.9% (Source: 2025 S-1 prospectus) ➡ USDC is more like a pure US bond money market fund, with a stable revenue model but lacking flexibility. This also means: Tether is more like an "offensive central bank mom+offshore hedge fund" that profits from asset volatility Circle is more like a 'Federal Reserve White List Bank', promoting compliant listing through stable interest rate spreads The issuance of stablecoins is no longer just a matter of coinage rights, but also a choice between capital structure and strategic direction. As Tether expands its BTC and diversified asset investments, Circle is striving to move closer to traditional financial structures. Regulation and structure are both important, but profits ultimately come from capital efficiency. Tether USDC CircleIPO Stablecoin BTC CryptoResearch