Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, is quietly accumulating physical gold at a rate of up to 2 tons per week, thereby building one of the largest gold reserves outside of government and central bank holdings.
CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company will continue this purchasing pace for at least the next few months. At current price levels, the purchase volume is equivalent to over $1 billion worth of gold each month. This gold is stored in a high-security vault in Switzerland.
The total amount of gold held by Tether has reached approximately 140 tons, valued at an estimated $24 billion. Most of this gold is part of the company’s private reserves, while some are used as collateral for the gold-pegged stablecoin XAUT. According to market data, the market capitalization of XAUT is currently around $2.7 billion.
According to Tether, their gold purchasing rate now surpasses that of many countries such as Greece, Qatar, or Australia. In just Q4/2025, the company added an additional 27 tons of gold to its precious metals exposure.
Leaders of Tether’s gold-related units believe that most current gold investors hold “paper gold” through ETFs or financial instruments, rather than directly owning specific gold bars. This model could face risks during a crisis if a large withdrawal wave occurs, whereas tokenized gold helps demonstrate ownership rights and reduces logistical bottlenecks.
The sharp rise in gold prices has also sparked speculation that significant buying from organizations, including Tether, is contributing to the upward price movement. Gold prices have increased by more than 90% over the past 12 months. However, besides corporations, central banks have also been major buyers in the global gold market recently.
Ardoino also suggests that the trend of gold accumulation may be related to the possibility that some countries will issue tokenized gold versions to reduce dependence on the USD in the future.
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