If the old adage says “all that glitters is not gold,” these days, it might need an update. The precious metal has blasted through $4,000 an ounce.
And Tether Gold, best known for the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, has become a crypto news headline-maker in physical gold.
Unlike Wall Street’s favorite ETF tickers or legacy vault custodians, Tether is quietly building an empire. One that’s changing the very plumbing of the gold market.
Stablecoin Sector Growing, Coming for Gold
Let’s start with the numbers. According to Katusa Research on X, Tether Gold has now passed $1.5 billion in market cap. Or, to put it another way:
“Stablecoins are coming after the gold sector.”
Gold and stock analyst Garrett Goggin pointed out that Tether is racking up 2 tons a week. That’s on par with China’s central bank buying, which is not a trivial exercise.
With central banks having acquired over 1,000 metric tons of gold in 2024 (the most since the 1960s), Tether’s market presence is now impossible to ignore.
Recent disclosures show that Tether Gold (XAUt) now sits atop 7.7 tons of physical gold in dedicated Swiss vaults.
Unlike traditional gold products that rely on massive commingled London Bullion Market Association vaults, or the paperwork-heavy promise of ETFs like GLD or COMEX futures, stablecoin issuer Tether opted to build its own vault.
Why the Tether Vault Matters
Why is the vault so important? For decades, gold “price discovery” in has been a contentious debate.
There is a mixing of central bank and private gold, pooled custody, and opaque reporting in legacy vaults. This means that, for most investors, the real supply-demand picture was always a bit cloudy.
By storing its bullion separately outside these legacy systems, Tether is forcing a collision between physical demand and transparent, auditable holdings.
Recently in crypto news, Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, confirmed the company holds about 80 tons of gold in a Swiss vault and wants the freedom of direct control.
And the numbers just keep climbing. In Q1 2025, Tether’s XAUt token surpassed the $770 million market cap mark. Each token is backed 1:1 by a verified troy ounce of LBMA-standard gold.
Less than six months later, XAUt broke $1 billion, outpacing major digital competitors like Paxos Gold, largely driven by relentless accumulation and a sharp rally in gold price.
Attestations published by Tether and independent auditors confirm not only the physical gold backing but the separate allocation for XAUt holders.
This means these reserves aren’t mingled with Tether’s stablecoin backing assets and can be verified via direct serial number lookup.
For investors, the implications are twofold. First, Tether Gold offers what many see as a bridge from the shadowy world of ETF receipts and pooled warehouse certificates into the auditable on-chain universe.
Each XAUt token, available as ERC-20 and TRC-20, can be traded globally and redeemed for real, physical gold with sufficient holdings.
Second, it’s a sea change in how global flows operate. With quarterly attestation, outside-legacy vaulting, and blockchain-based audits, Tether is not just another gold product.
It’s an entirely new plumbing infrastructure attracting institutional and decentralized finance (DeFi) buyers alike.
Tether Gold Is Changing the Game
Is it all upside? Not quite. The debate about transparency, the safety of independent vaults, and the question of what happens if a titan holds ever more physical gold remain.
“True price” discovery returns to a market notorious for paper manipulation. Yet by all credible metrics, Tether Gold is carving out its own dominion in the crypto market news, bypassing the old institutions and setting new standards for custody, audit, and liquidity.
In a year where gold price is making multi-decade highs and new competitors enter with blockchain-grade innovation, Tether’s move is changing the game for the world’s oldest asset.