Examining Tether's Gold Strategy
The Daily Crypto Update for Institutional Investors
A Tuesday article from the FT describes Tether as a ‘gold whale’ due to the stablecoin issuer becoming ‘the largest holder of gold outside central banks’ - We provide key highlights from Tether’s strategy as it relates to the precious metal
Tether is ‘the largest holder of gold outside central banks’, Jefferies writes: According to Tether’s Q3 ‘Attestation Report,’ the company holds USD 12.9B worth of gold. FT points out that, according to Jeffries, with 116 tonnes of gold, Tether is now the largest holder of the precious metal outside of central banks. FT points out that ‘[m]ore important than the size of the hoard to the gold price is the pace of recent buying.’ Tether purchased 50 tonnes of gold, more than half of its total holdings, in Q2 and Q3 of 2025. According to Jeffries, Tether’s gold purchases are likely to have ‘tightened supply in the short-term and influenced sentiment, which in turn may have driven speculative flows.’ According to Jeffries, citing ‘conversations with investors,’ Tether intends to acquire 100 tonnes of gold in 2025.
‘Jefferies’ team thinks Tether is betting on tokenised physical gold finally catching on:’ To-date, Tether’s Ethereum-based tokenized gold product, XAUt, with a market cap of USD 1.56B, has seen limited traction for crypto standards. Data from Etherscan indicates the token’s supply increased from 375,572 in October to a current 522,089, with each token representing 1 oz of gold vaulted in Switzerland. The issuance of the tokens resulted in a record 9,400 XAUt transfers on the Ethereum blockchain, with blockchain data indicating 16,001 distinct addresses holding the token. Relative to its market cap, XAUt spot trading against USDt has seen reasonable volumes; XAUt’s most active spot market over the past 24 hours was Bybit, where XAUT/USDt saw a trading volume of 39.92M USDt. However, XAUt trading against USD is virtually non-existent (Kraken’s XAUT/USD pair saw a trading volume of USD 86,200 over the past 24 hours). The token’s uptake in DeFi is also scant; only 9.53M XAUt is deposited on DeFi lending platform Aave.
Tether has made several investments in gold companies: In September, the FT reported that Tether is considering investments in the gold supply chain, including refining and trading. That month, Tether increased its USD 105M stake in Elemental Altus (TSXV: ELE) by USD 100M, in conjunction with the latter firm’s merger with EMX Royalty Corporation (NYSEAMERICAN | TSXV: EMX). Juan Sartori, head of business initiatives at Tether, told the FT the investment was part of the group’s strategy to increase its ‘gold exposure.’
Gold & BTC represent 7.13% & 5.44% of USDt’s reserves, respectively: According to Tether’s latest attestation, USDt’s 174.44B market cap, as of September 30, was backed by 77.23% in ‘Cash & Cash Equivalents & Other Short-Term Deposits.’ Of these, 93.10% were held in US treasuries and overnight reverse repurchase agreements. The proportion of USDt reserves allocated to gold is 7.13%, which is separate from the bullion backing XAUt. Tether’s total assets, USD 181.22B, exceed total liabilities by USD 6.78B. Over the past year, the stablecoin’s market cap has expanded by USD ~51B to a current record high of USD 184B.
CRYPTO HEADLINES
Nasdaq has requested approval from the SEC to raise the daily trading limit for options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) from 250,000 to 1M contracts. IBIT options represent 98% of all BTC ETF options trading, with open interest peaking above USD 50B in October. - link - @Bloomberg
S&P Global Ratings issued a warning that Tether’s USDt could become undercollateralized and lose its US dollar peg due to reserve asset declines and transparency concerns. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded to the rating analysis with disagreement, asserting consistent resilience and increased adoption. - link - @S&PGlobal
A report from House Judiciary Committee Democrats claims President Donald Trump and his family gained hundreds of millions from crypto ventures, alleging exploitation of political power. The report highlights regulatory concerns and conflicts of interest, though the Trump administration denies wrongdoing, emphasizing support for crypto innovation. - link - @CoinDesk
Ripple’s dollar stablecoin RLUSD has been recognized as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token by Abu Dhabi’s FSRA, allowing use in the ADGM. RLUSD compliance enables further expansion in the Middle East, following regulatory approvals and partnerships in the region. - link - @Ripple
Wallets linked to SpaceX transferred 1,163 BTC, valued at USD 105.4M, to two unmarked wallets. The transfers represent the firm’s largest BTC movement since October 2024. SpaceX reportedly holds 6,095 BTC, while Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) holds 11,509 BTC. The reason for SpaceX’s transfer is not specified. - link - @TheBlock
Ethereum’s block gas limit increased from 45M to 60M, following validator approval and community advocacy. This adjustment is based on protocol improvements, client optimizations, and testnet stability. The increase coincides with the upcoming Fusaka hard fork, planned for December 3, which focuses on data availability sampling improvements. - link - @TheBlock
Korean crypto exchange Upbit suspended deposits and withdrawals after reporting an unauthorized transfer of about USD 30M in Solana network-based assets to an external wallet. The incident follows Naver’s announcement to acquire Upbit’s parent company, Dunamu, for USD 10.3B. - link - @Bloomberg
TOP ARTICLES
OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH / LONG-READ OF THE DAY
Tether Gold - A Digital Token Backed By Physical Gold, Tether, January 1, 2022
The XAUt whitepaper explains the reasoning behind launching the product.
CRYPTO MULTIMEDIA
Tether CEO Reveals Bitcoins Next Move , Simply Bitcoin , November 18, 2025
Paolo Ardoino discusses Tether’s future plans and his outlook for BTC.
CHART OF THE DAY
Interest in USDt, measured via Google searches for the stablecoin, is highest in countries where traditional access to US dollars is strained.
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