Tether buys 27 tonnes of gold in Q4, expanding its presence in the global gold market

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has emerged as a new heavyweight in the gold market after its bullion holdings rose to a level that surpasses those of major countries.

In materials released on the 26th (local time), Tether said it has “established itself as an institutional-grade holder of gold, based on a gold-backed tokenization strategy.” According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Jefferies, Tether’s gold holdings now rank within the global top 30, exceeding those of Greece, Qatar and Australia.

Tether said it added about 27 tonnes (t) of gold in Q4 alone last year, based on fund-exposure assets. That is more than the amount of gold purchased by many central banks over the same period. According to Reuters, the figure is similar to analysts’ estimates for Q3 purchases last year (about 26t). Among central banks that disclosed their Q4 gold purchases last year, Poland’s central bank bought the most—35t—raising its holdings to 550t.

Tether said the market capitalization of its gold-backed token Tether Gold (XAUT) stood at $2.24 billion as of the end of last year, accounting for about 60% of the overall gold-backed token market. Tether Gold is designed to be backed by one fine troy ounce of physical gold per token, with about 520,000 tokens in circulation as of the end of last year. The gold holdings supporting this were disclosed at about 16.2t.

Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive officer (CEO), said, “Through Tether Gold, we are operating at a scale comparable to gold-holding countries,” adding that “every token is backed by physical gold stored in real vaults and can be verified on-chain.”