Tether expands Bitcoin mining presence with 21.4% stake in Bitdeer

According to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, stablecoin issuer Tether has increased its stake in Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer.

Tether currently owns 31,891,689 shares of Bitdeer’s Class A common stock and its subsidiaries Tether International, SA de CV, and Tether Investments, SA de CV, accounting for 21.4% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Tether’s expansion into Bitcoin mining aligns with its broader strategy of diversifying investments and strengthening the infrastructure that underpins the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The GENIUS Act regulates stablecoins in the US

The GENIUS Act, a bill to regulate issuers of stablecoins, was approved by the US Senate Banking Committee on March 13, 2025. However, for it to become a law, the House of Representatives and the entire Senate must also approve it.

Head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, Alex Thorn, said that the GENIUS Act would improve Tether’s operational flexibility, which could be advantageous. 

He claims that Tether could register onshore under the bill but would not have to do so to continue operating.

in its current form, the GENIUS Act is great for tether.

the door is open for them to register onshore, but if they don’t, they are only prohibited from:

– USDT being used for interbank settlement
– marketing USDT onshore as a “stablecoin”

the 1st isn’t a thing today but…

— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) March 14, 2025

According to the bill’s current wording, Tether would not break any laws if it decided not to register under the new framework. However, the main limitations imposed by the bill’s current wording on unregistered stablecoin issuers, such as Tether, would be the prohibition of interbank settlement and the marketing of their tokens as “stablecoins” in the United States.

According to the reports, a proposal to implement the second restriction was also made at a recent Senate Banking Committee meeting. Tether would trade onshore with no restrictions but would not be allowed to promote USDT as a stablecoin in the US market.

The regulatory framework proposed a 1:1 reserves requirement, consisting of short-term Treasury bills, insured bank deposits, or US dollars as guidelines for issuance and oversight.

In addition, Tether has a clear choice under the GENIUS Act to register as a stablecoin issuer in the United States, most likely via the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If it decides to go this route, the cryptocurrency stablecoin has two options: fully register USDT or establish a subsidiary that issues a compliant token.

Bitdeer has significantly increased its Bitcoin holdings

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer significantly increased its own BTC holdings by roughly 75% to $87 million worth of 1,039 Bitcoins since 2025 began. The increase resulted from the company’s innovative strategy of redirecting some of its mining rigs to self-production in response to customer requests to postpone payments for SEALMINER A2 units during the biggest cryptocurrency’s price drop.

In its most recent investor release, the company reported that its self-mining activity generated 110 Bitcoins in February, a slight drop from January’s total of 126 BTC. It attributed this to the fact that there were fewer days in February.

Self-mining is the practice of a business extracting resources for its own holdings. Bitdeer has implemented self-mining by developing and deploying its data center and mining equipment (SEALMINER). It manages the entire mining process, from buying equipment to operating it, to maximize cryptocurrency mining profits.

Apart from its self-mining update, Bitdeer also offered updates on infrastructure construction in several different global locations.

In the public sector, MARA and Riot Platform are the largest Bitcoin miners based on market capitalization. Their Bitcoin holdings include 45,659 and 18,692, respectively.

Bitdeer has now surpassed the 1,000 BTC threshold set by Bitwise for its newly launched Bitcoin-focused ETF. However, the asset manager has yet to confirm whether it will include Bitdeer’s shares in the fund.

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