Tether mulls investment in gold mines… seeks to expand virtual asset profits into 'physical gold'

The world's largest stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly discussing ways to invest in the gold mining industry. It appears to be a move to allocate the vast profits earned from virtual assets into the physical asset of gold.

The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 4th (local time), citing multiple people, that "Tether has recently explored investment possibilities across the entire gold supply chain, from mine development to refining, distribution and royalty companies, with mining and investment firms."

Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief executive officer (CEO), has long emphasized that "gold is bitcoin made by nature," saying, "If bitcoin is 'digital gold,' gold is the source of our fundamental assets." In fact, Tether already holds a significant amount of gold. According to its financial statements, Tether has deposited gold bars worth US$8.7 billion in a Zurich vault in Switzerland and uses them as collateral for its stablecoins.

However, the gold mining industry has voiced criticism of Tether's moves. One gold mining company official said, "They like gold but don't seem to have a clear strategy," and another commodity industry source described them as "the most unusual company I've dealt with."

Tether currently holds U.S. Treasury bonds on a large scale to earn interest income and also issues 'XAUt', a token backed by physical gold. However, XAUt's market capitalization is US$880 million, which is negligible compared to USDT.

The industry expects attempts to combine digital assets and gold to spread. Nasdaq-listed Blue Gold is also preparing to issue a token based on future gold production from a Ghana mine. Andrew Kabagan, Blue Gold's CEO, said, "Gold tokens have the potential to become a globally strong form of currency because they can be converted into physical assets."