Kiyosaki Warns of Global Crash – Tether Insolvency Rumors Back in Focus

The cryptocurrency world finds itself once again caught between crash warnings and solvency debates. While bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki warns of a global financial crash and advocates a flight into Bitcoin and Ethereum, new rumors about the creditworthiness of stablecoin issuer Tether are sparking discussions across the industry.

Japan Carry Trade: Kiyosaki Sees $20 Trillion Risk

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the financial bestseller "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," has returned with an urgent warning. On November 28, he announced on platform X the end of the so-called Japan Carry Trade – a gigantic financial construct with an estimated volume of around $20 trillion ^[1].

For decades, investors have borrowed yen cheaply to invest globally in higher-yielding assets such as tech stocks or emerging market bonds ^[1]. This system is now beginning to crack: The yen has recently strengthened, and yields on Japanese government bonds surged sharply in November 2025 ^[1]. Investors are increasingly forced to unwind their positions and repay loans.

Kiyosaki fears this will trigger a global liquidity shortage, similar to the 2008 financial crisis ^[1]. His recommendation remains unchanged: "Gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum" ^[1]. His thesis: "Yes, you can become richer while the world becomes poorer" ^[1]. The author sees holders of scarce, digital, or physical money as advantaged in a scenario of collapsing traditional markets.

Tether Under Pressure: S&P Downgrades USDT

Parallel to Kiyosaki's warnings, stablecoin market leader Tether is making headlines again. BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes has reignited debate over the solvency of the $134 billion stablecoin USDT ^[2].

Hayes argues that Tether is massively shifting into gold and Bitcoin because the company anticipates falling interest rates from the Federal Reserve, which would erode the lucrative returns from U.S. Treasury bonds ^[2]. His dire forecast: Should Bitcoin and gold prices collapse by around 30 percent, Tether's equity would theoretically be wiped out ^[2].

The timing of the criticism is explosive: It comes immediately following the reserves report from November 29, 2025, and a downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, which downgraded USDT to "weak" status ^[2]. The agency cited growing exposure to volatile assets such as Bitcoin, gold, and corporate bonds as its reasoning ^[2].

Experts Fire Back: Hidden Reserves and Profitable Business Model

Market observers and analysts, however, strongly push back and dismiss the warning as recurring FUD. A former Citi analyst points out that publicly disclosed assets do not correspond to the company's total assets ^[2].

Tether follows a "matching" philosophy, in which it merely shows how reserves are covered ^[2]. The company maintains a separate equity portfolio consisting of venture investments, mining operations, and additional Bitcoin holdings that do not appear in the transparency reports ^[2]. Analysts conservatively estimate the value of this equity at between $50 and $100 billion ^[2].

The visually thin equity buffer is also explained by dividend policy: Profits are regularly paid out to the parent company rather than retained on the balance sheet ^[2]. With approximately $120 billion in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury bonds, Tether generates annual profits in the double-digit billions with minimal operating costs ^[2].

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino sharply countered the S&P downgrade, describing the criticism as a sign that the "traditional financial propaganda machine" is nervous ^[2]. Experts consider it extremely unlikely that the well-capitalized parent company would abandon its most profitable subsidiary in a crisis scenario ^[2].