Tether—the crypto behemoth best known for issuing USDT, the world’s most widely used stablecoin—has quietly transformed itself into a major force in the physical gold market.
Under CEO Paolo Ardoino’s leadership, the company has built a gold reserve now estimated at roughly 140 tonnes, worth around $23–$24 billion, stored in a highly secure facility in Switzerland that was once a Cold War-era nuclear bunker. Ardoino himself has described this vault with a mix of seriousness and dry humor: calling it “a James Bond kind of place” where the company’s burgeoning bullion pile is guarded behind multiple layers of thick steel doors.
What Tether Is Building — And Why It Matters
This is not gold hoarding for optics. Tether says its gold serves multiple strategic roles: it underpins Tether Gold (XAUT), a token that represents physical ounces on-chain; it diversifies the reserves backing USDT; and it acts as a hedge against fiat currency risk at a time when geopolitical uncertainty is fueling interest in traditional safe havens.
Tether has been buying gold (and Bitcoin) at a blistering pace — around one to two tonnes per week — and Ardoino has made clear they plan to continue that cadence for “definitely the next few months,” while reassessing on a quarterly basis whether to adjust their pace. On why there isn’t a fixed cap or target to their purchases, he explained that flexibility is key: “Maybe we are going to reduce, we don’t know yet. We are going to assess on a quarterly basis our demand for gold.” That sort of candor is rare in markets usually dominated by sovereign central banks.
Tether’s gold accumulation has not just been steady — it’s been massive. Ardoino has said the scale at which the company is operating now places Tether alongside sovereign gold holders, which is a staggering claim when you consider that most countries build reserves slowly and cautiously. “We are operating at a scale that now places the Tether Gold Investment Fund alongside sovereign gold holders, and that carries real responsibility,” he said, acknowledging that this isn’t standard corporate treasury behavior.
The Macro Logic (and the Messy Reality)
Ardoino doesn’t speak like a typical finance CEO. On macro conditions, he has been blunt: “The world is not in a happy place at this moment. Gold is making all-time highs every single day. Why? Because everyone is scared.” That aligns with a broader narrative of distrust in fiat systems — a theme Tether has increasingly leaned into. The narrative isn’t just about crypto replacing banks; it’s about crypto intersecting with old-world ballast assets in a world where trust in currencies, especially the U.S. dollar, is under pressure.
His team has said that these gold reserves help support both USDT and XAUT, with the latter now controlling a significant slice — roughly 60% — of the global gold-backed stablecoin market. Ardoino also frames this move as a bid to bring clarity and verifiability to tokenized gold, arguing that each XAUT token represents vaulted, physical gold that can be independently verified on-chain — a direct contrast to the opacity associated with some traditional gold holding mechanisms.
Yet Tether’s approach isn’t merely about stacking bars. Ardoino has signaled ambitions to be more active in the bullion markets, talking about building “the best trading floor for gold in the world” to capitalize on arbitrage opportunities and market inefficiencies. That’s not typical treasury talk — it’s institutional trading talk, implying Tether wants to compete with big banks and established bullion trading houses.
Tether Gold (XAU₮), the gold-backed token from Tether, has surpassed $4 billion in total market value, Source: Tether
Tether Gold (XAU₮), the gold-backed token from Tether, has surpassed $4 billion in total market value as of the end of 2025, amid a broader surge in the gold-backed stablecoin sector. The company announced this in a report. The overall market for gold-backed stablecoins grew from around $1.3 billion to over $4 billion last year, driven by record gold prices and strong demand from both institutional and digital-native investors. Within that expanding market, XAU₮ now accounts for roughly 60 % of the total supply, making it the dominant product in the segment. Every XAU₮ token is backed 1:1 by physical gold held in Switzerland, with over 520,000 fine troy ounces in reserves and matching tokens in circulation. Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, said this scale places Tether Gold “alongside sovereign gold holders” and reflects growing investor interest in transparent, on-chain exposure to physical gold.
Signals, Risks, and The Broader Game
While central banks collectively bought thousands of tonnes of gold last year, Tether’s presence as a non-sovereign buyer of this scale is a market signal in itself. Bullion traders and analysts have begun to factor Tether’s buying into pricing models because steady, algorithm-like purchases can tighten available supply and impact spreads.
But it’s also a risk. Gold isn’t as liquid as U.S. Treasuries, and large physical holdings come with operational complexities — from storage logistics to the challenge of moving metal in bulk without affecting market prices. Ardoino implicitly acknowledged these complexities when he spoke about the logistical challenges of buying about $1 billion of physical gold a month, noting that even big orders can take months to arrive.
Despite that, he pushes back on the notion that Tether is simply speculating. Instead, his framing is almost utilitarian: gold as a durable, non-debt asset that complements the company’s broader financial infrastructure. And in some comments he’s made — including predictions about geopolitical rivals launching gold-backed currency alternatives — Ardoino hints at a vision that stretches well beyond Bitcoin into global monetary architecture.
Whether you see this as prudent hedging or aggressive empire-building depends on your worldview. What’s indisputable is this: a stablecoin issuer now sits among the world’s largest private gold holders, talking openly about a hybrid future where crypto and centuries-old safe havens coexist — and maybe compete — in shaping global finance.