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Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by
Tyler Warner
. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute
on Substack
Today’s top news:
Crypto majors fall in overnight selloff, with damage
accelerating this morning
ended October red
for the first time in 7 years
distances himself from CZ
, says he “didn’t know” him
Microsoft inks $9.7B deal with Bitcoin miner IREN
nets $10B in profits so far in 2025
after $1.1B Q3
💰 Tether Prints $10 Billion in Profit
Tether is the most profitable company nobody talks about.
And the stablecoin giant just posted numbers that would make most banks jealous.
📌 What Happened
Tether’s latest
quarterly attestation showed $1.1 billion in profit for Q3 2025
, bringing its year-to-date total to roughly $10 billion—a number that rivals Goldman Sachs and dwarfs Coinbase.
Almost all of it came from interest income on U.S. Treasuries, where Tether now holds $91B in reserves—more than countries like Brazil or Canada.
The company also confirmed new investments in Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure, underscoring its strategy to diversify profits beyond pure dollar-backed reserves.
On-chain, USDT’s supply now exceeds 122 billion, with nearly 70% issued on
and about 18% on
🗣️ What They’re Saying
“With this attestation, Tether once again proves its leadership and financial resilience.” -
Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO
Tether just released its quarterly attestation for Q3 2025.
USDT has become the biggest financial inclusion success story in the history of humanity, with more than 500 million users across the emerging markets and developing countries.
Highlights as of 30 September 2025:
https://t.co/XVYeVq1u64
pic.twitter.com/nZ2V1EKZ3x
— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino)
October 31, 2025
🧠 Why It Matters
Tether has ridden stablecoin growth to become one of the most profitable companies in the world. On a per-employee basis, they are probably #1.
A few implications to watch:
Too big to fail? With $120 B+ USDT outstanding, Tether is now critical global infrastructure. Any hiccup in redemption or regulation could ripple through every exchange and L1.
Cash machine. At current Treasury rates, Tether earns roughly $25–30M per day—a cash engine funding expansion into AI, BTC mining, and energy.
Regulatory optics. Expect renewed scrutiny. A private company making $10B from U.S. debt without U.S. oversight will raise louder and louder questions (especially from the left).
Expect Tether’s empire to continue to grow, and any Tether-adjacent protocols or tokens to see a lot of demand (case in point, XPL).
And we will see if the rest of the stablecoin sector can ride its coattails…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes
A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Crypto majors
are down big time after a Sunday night selloff;
BTC -3% at $107,100, ETH -5.5% at $3,643, BNB -7% at $1,003, SOL -8% at $169
ASTER pumped 25%
posted that he had bought some of the token
and plans to hold long-term, though it has since retraced most of the move
signed a deal
to purchase $9.7B in AI cloud services from Bitcoin miner IREN (IREN stock +20% premarket)
distanced himself from CZ
after his latest pardon, saying he “didn’t know” CZ
name-dropped Polymarket
during his latest Joe Rogan podcast, showing more prediction market proliferation
ended "Uptober" red
for the first time in 7 years
Balancer v2 pools
were exploited
In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs
The Bitcoin ETFs
saw $191.6M in net outflows
on Friday, with ETH seeing $98.2M in outflows
The Solana Bitwise ETFs
closed its first week with $197M in net inflows
Meme coin leaders
are mostly red and closing a very red week;
DOGE -7%, Shiba -6%, PEPE -10%, PENGU -9%, BONK -10%, TRUMP -1%, SPX -11%, and FARTCOIN -14%
jelly jelly
+145% was a top mover on Solana; kitkat +77% to $3.5M
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
unveiled its Q4 roadmap
focusing on improvements to privacy swaps and usability issues
is now in its allocation and refund phase, where ICO bidders will find out how much they received
🚚 What is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
NFT leaders
were red and continuing a downtrend
; Punks -3% at 37 ETH, Pudgy -4% at 5.9, BAYC -1% at 6.35 ETH; Hypurr’s -5% at 965 HYPE
Good Vibes Club
+17% to 0.435 ETH were a notable mover
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