Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin supplier, may significantly increase its exposure to gold, according to a report from the Financial Times on Friday.
The company, which has earned billions of dollars in profit thanks to its USDT stablecoin, has held discussions about investing in the “entire gold supply chain, from mining and refining to trading and royalty companies,” the media outlet said, citing anonymous sources.
Tether Weighing Large-scale Gold Investment
Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, is strengthening its ties to gold. With reserves now reaching $8.7 billion stored in a Swiss vault, the firm is in talks to invest directly in gold mining, refining, and royalty businesses.
The company has already committed tens of millions to royalty group Elemental Altus and is exploring further deals, including potential partnerships with Terranova Resources. CEO Paolo Ardoino has described gold as “natural bitcoin,” seeing it as a stable and tangible counterpart to digital assets.
Not everyone in the industry is convinced. Some gold executives remain skeptical of Tether’s approach, calling the company unusual and questioning its long-term strategy. Still, Tether continues to use its large profits to push deeper into commodities and tokenization.
Its gold-backed token, XAU₮, has a relatively small market value of under $880 million, but the firm’s flagship USDT remains dominant with a market capitalization of about $168 billion. With billions in annual profit, Tether’s push into physical gold marks a bold step in blending traditional resources with digital finance.
Tether’s gold strategy surprises
Tether’s possible plans to invest even more significantly into gold have been met with “surprise,” according to FT.
“The conservative gold mining sector, Tether’s interest has been greeted with surprise — and questions about whether the unconventional newcomer will succeed. ‘They like gold. I don’t think they have a strategy,’ said one mining executive,” the report said.
“It is the weirdest company I have ever dealt with,” a commodity executive told FT.
Of note, the spot price of gold hit an all-time high of $3,650 on Friday afternoon.
