Tether's Steady Buying Sets the Stage for Metalla's Q3 Print

MTA heads into its August 14 earnings release with one story dominating the setup: a persistent, large-scale accumulation by its biggest shareholder.

Tether Holdings has been buying MTA every single trading day for at least two weeks. Between July 14 and July 27, the crypto giant added more than 577,000 shares across ten consecutive sessions, spending roughly C$4.4 million at prices ranging from C$7.21 to C$7.83 per share. Its total stake now stands at nearly 14% of the company, making it far and away the dominant holder. That steady bid almost certainly contributed to the stock's 26% climb over the past month, with shares closing at C$12.63 on August 13 — well above the prices at which Tether was accumulating.

Short sellers have been retreating into that rally. Short interest has collapsed by roughly 63% over the past month and now represents just 0.09% of the free float — a negligible level that carries no meaningful signal on its own. The borrow market reflects the same story: cost to borrow is running at just 1.17%, and availability is comfortable at around 107%, meaning shares remain easy to borrow for anyone who wanted to build a short position. No squeeze dynamic is at play here. The positioning picture is simply one of bears stepping aside as the stock ran.

The institutional backdrop adds texture. Beyond Tether, the shareholder register reads like a who's-who of precious metals specialists — Euro Pacific Asset Management, Merk Investments, ASA Gold and Precious Metals, Sprott, and Van Eck all hold meaningful positions. FMR added roughly 276,000 shares through May, and Two Sigma built a new position of over 390,000 shares through March. CEO Brett Heath holds more than 3.3 million shares. The register is concentrated and aligned. Analyst coverage data is too stale to cite reliably, and the stock's sharp recent re-rating — a P/E that has expanded by nearly 14 turns over 30 days to roughly 80x — means valuation has become a question rather than an anchor.

The past two earnings releases both saw the stock fall sharply on the day — down 10% after the May print and down roughly 13% after the March event — though the five-day reaction was mixed. The print will test whether the royalty portfolio's underlying growth, and forward earnings momentum that ranks in the 91st percentile of its universe, can justify a valuation that has moved well ahead of where Tether was still buying less than three weeks ago.