Key Takeaways
- Tether has significantly stepped up its gold purchases in recent months.
- At the close of Q3, the firm held around 116 tonnes of gold.
- Gold underpins XAUT and forms a part of Tether’s stablecoin reserves.
Tether has emerged as one of the largest buyers of gold in recent months, acquiring 26 metric tonnes of the precious metal in the third quarter of 2025.
The USDT issuer’s gold reserves have increased significantly in the past year, now rivaling those of a mid-sized central bank.
Tether Accelerates Gold Purchases
According to analyses by the investment bank Jefferies, Tether acquired 26 tonnes of gold in Q3—more than any central bank during the same period.
At the end of September, the USDT issuer held around 116 tonnes of gold in total. If it were a central bank, Tether’s gold reserves would rank among the top 30 in the world, ahead of Greece, Qatar, and Australia.
More Than a Reserve Asset
Tether’s reported gold reserves include assets underpinning its tokenized gold product, XAUT. But with a market capitalization of around $1.6 billion, XAUT accounts for less than 12 tonnes of bullion.
Precious metals also make up around 7% of the firm’s stablecoin reserves.
Subtracting USDT and XAUT reserves, Tether is still sitting on a hefty stockpile itself.
Recent investments reflect CEO Paolo Ardoino’s professed affinity for the asset class. In September, he stated that “while the world continues to get darker, Tether will continue to invest part of its profits into safe assets like Bitcoin, Gold, and Land.”
Beyond physical metal, the firm has also directed capital toward the mining royalties with a reported $100 million investment in Elemental Altus.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
