$USDT Tether's 'Banking-style Survival': Balancing Capital Accounts While Playing 'Journey' Narrative

Still struggling with whether Tether is stable or not? Stop fixating on the simple balance sheet; its underlying logic is fundamentally the 'banking model of the crypto world'!

Like traditional banks, Tether forms 'liabilities' by issuing tokens pegged to the US dollar and then invests that money into a diversified asset pool to earn interest spread. To evaluate its safety, we need to dissect it using the methods of bank capital regulation: in the first quarter of 2025, it issued $174.5 billion in tokens corresponding to $181.2 billion in assets, seemingly having an excess reserve of $6.8 billion, but the risk weights of the assets are vastly different—Bitcoin's risk weight far exceeds that of gold, and equity and project investments are even higher risk items. Roughly calculated, its risk-weighted assets range between $62 billion and $115 billion, with a capital adequacy ratio of 8.7% to 18.9%. While this meets the minimum standard, it is far from the safety cushion of large banks, and it still needs to add $4.5 billion in capital to be adequate.

More critically, Tether's capital buffer is deeply tied to the assets of the group behind it. This group holds assets in various fields including renewable energy, Bitcoin mining, AI infrastructure, and gold mining. The liquidity of these assets and the group's decisions during a crisis directly determine the level of protection for token holders, but this uncertainty also becomes the biggest challenge in judgment.

Interestingly, this aligns perfectly with Dirt Roads' 'journey' narrative—at the intersection of crypto and finance, the answer is never at the finish line. After all, the industry still harbors more variables: the SEC has already signaled a 'global financial on-chain' initiative, and the Stable public chain TGE is launching tonight; whether the stablecoin public chain story can still captivate the market remains to be seen.

Do you think Tether's capital buffer is sufficient to withstand extreme market conditions? Or are you more optimistic about the new opportunities brought by 'financial on-chain'? Let's discuss in the comments! #加密货币风险