Stablecoin giant 'Tether' pushes into the gold market…hires gold experts from HSBC

Uk Jin

Summary

Tether announced it is targeting the gold market by hiring HSBC gold experts.
About $12 billion of Tether's reserves are held in gold, and it has been steadily purchasing gold.
Tether also issues a gold-backed stablecoin (XAUT), and XAUT is said to be 100%% backed by about 1,300 gold bars.

The world's largest stablecoin (a digital asset whose value is linked to fiat currency) company Tether (USDT) is moving to target the gold market.

On the 11th (Korea time), Bloomberg reported that Tether plans to hire Vincent Domien, global head of metals trading at HSBC, and Matthew O'Neill, head of precious metals sourcing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The two are reportedly in the process of leaving HSBC.

Tether has rapidly increased its gold holdings in recent years and has grown to become one of the world's largest holders of gold outside of banks and states. The company's reserves exceed $180 billion, of which gold accounts for about $12 billion (as of September). Tether is estimated to have been buying more than 1 ton of gold per week through September this year.

In addition, Tether includes gold as part of the reserves backing the dollar-pegged stablecoin (USDT), and also issues the gold-backed stablecoin 'Tether Gold (XAUT)'. XAUT's market capitalization is about $2 billion, and it is 100% backed by roughly 1,300 gold bars.

USDT

XAUT