The issuer of the stablecoin USDT, Tether, has entered the ranks of the top thirty largest gold holders globally. This was reported by CoinDesk, citing a report from investment bank Jefferies.
As of January 31, the company's gold reserves reached 148 tons, with an estimated value of $23 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Tether acquired 26 tons of the precious metal, adding another 6 tons in January.
Analysts noted that in terms of purchasing pace, the crypto company outperformed most central banks, trailing only Poland and Brazil. Currently, Tether's reserves exceed the state reserves of Australia, the UAE, Qatar, South Korea, and Greece.
Physical gold is used to back USDT and XAUT. At the time of writing, the market capitalization of the latter stands at $2.5 billion, according to CoinGecko.
The accumulation of reserves coincided with a historic rally in the precious metals market—last month, the price per ounce surpassed $5,000. The growth drivers included demand from central banks and investors' attempts to reduce reliance on the US dollar.
According to Jefferies, purchases will continue. Previously, Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino stated the company's strategy to allocate 10-15% of its investment portfolio to physical gold.
Recall that in January, the head of the stablecoin issuer revealed the transformation of a former nuclear bunker in Switzerland into a storage facility for gold reserves. Ardoino mentioned that the site is under heightened security and resembles locations from James Bond films.