Tether has laid off two leading precious metals traders, who joined the issuer of USDT just a few months ago, according to Bloomberg sources.
Vincent Domien and Matthew O’Neil were hired by Tether during the establishment of a gold reserve worth tens of billions of dollars. The company announced plans to create "the world’s best trading platform" for this global asset.
The reasons for the traders' departure remain unclear. Both previously worked at HSBC, with Domien serving as the global head of the metals trading division and O’Neil being one of the top sales specialists.
“Tether always aims to operate with a small team and continuously optimizes its operations. We have built a modern gold team that leverages the experience gained from all recent investments,” Bloomberg quoted the company’s comment.
By the end of 2025, the firm reported a net profit of over $10 billion, while employing around 300 staff globally.
Market Context
According to investment bank Jefferies, as of January 31, Tether had accumulated 148 tons of gold valued at approximately $23 billion at that time.
The company has entered the ranks of the top thirty largest global holders of precious metals. In terms of purchasing pace in 2025, it outpaced most central banks, trailing only Poland and Brazil.
According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, the gold bars are stored in a former nuclear bunker in Switzerland under heightened security.
Physical gold is used as collateral for stablecoins USDT and XAUT, the latter being pegged to the price of a troy ounce of gold. The market cap of the token is around $2.6 billion, while USDT’s market cap stands at approximately $184 billion (CoinGecko).
According to an audit report by BDO Italia, as of December 31, 2025, Tether's total reserves amounted to $192.9 billion. A significant portion of this, $122.3 trillion, was composed of U.S. Treasury bonds, with $17.5 billion in precious metals and $8.4 billion in Bitcoin.
In January, Ardoino announced plans to increase the gold share in the company’s portfolio to 10-15%. The current figure exceeds 9%.
Last year, gold prices started around $2600 per ounce. Following a prolonged rally, the price exceeded $5300 by the end of January 2026, but has since entered a correction phase.
Source: Finance Yahoo.In March, gold experienced its deepest monthly decline since 2008. The asset is trading near $4640, reflecting nearly a 50% increase over the past 12 months.
It’s worth noting that in March, Tether announced plans for a full financial audit by a "Big Four" firm. According to reports, KPMG is expected to conduct the audit.