The move comes as Bitdeer’s stock continues to slide following its Q3 earnings call, where the company reported several developments viewed as negative for short-term performance. Bitdeer disclosed a fire at its Ohio facility and reported a quarterly net loss of $266.7 million. The company also announced “significant delays” in the production schedule for its new SEAL04 mining chip.

Chief Strategy Officer Haris Basit told investors that engineering teams are still working through design adjustments required before SEAL04 mass production can begin. Bitdeer completed the chip’s first tape-out in September, but the overall SEAL miner roadmap remains under review.

The latest purchases come after Tether trimmed its Bitdeer position earlier this month. A November 10 filing showed that Tether had sold approximately 7.7 million Bitdeer shares for $166 million since reaching its peak holdings in April. The company executed the sales across multiple price ranges between roughly $16 and $27 per share.

Bitdeer, meanwhile, continues to expand its infrastructure footprint at a time when the Bitcoin mining sector faces significant economic pressure. The broader publicly listed mining industry has lost about $32 billion in market capitalization since its October peak. Bitcoin’s hashprice — a key metric reflecting miner revenue — has dropped to a new all-time low below $35 per petahash per second amid falling BTC prices and persistently high network difficulty.

In a research note published Wednesday, S&P said it now ranks Tether as “5 (weak)”, down from its previous score of “4 (constrained).” The rating system, introduced in 2023, evaluates the stability and risk profile of major stablecoins pegged to traditional currencies.

A spokesperson for Tether did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously described USDT as the “leading digital dollar,” emphasizing stability and transparency.

Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, says it has issued roughly $184 billion worth of its dollar-pegged tokens and maintains sufficient reserves — largely in US Treasuries and other assets — to meet redemptions.

However, S&P noted what it described as a rising share of high-risk assets in Tether’s reserve portfolio over the past year, including Bitcoin, gold, secured loans, corporate bonds and other investments. The agency warned that these holdings come with credit, market, interest-rate and foreign-exchange risks, and are accompanied by “limited disclosures.”

S&P added that Tether continues to provide only limited information on the creditworthiness of custodians, counterparties, and banking partners involved in supporting the stablecoin’s operations.

Despite these concerns, the ratings agency acknowledged that Tether has maintained “a notable level of price stability” even during periods of heightened crypto-market volatility.