Tether, issuer of the dollar-backed USDT and gold-pegged XAUT stablecoins, revealed on Monday that it added about 27 metric tons of gold in Q4 2025, extending a run of aggressive bullion buying as the company leans further into “hard” collateral.
But the scale remains unchanged from its third-quarter purchases, which analysts estimated to be at 26 tons. The announcement comes as the scarce yellow rock surged to a new all-time high of $5,110 per ounce on Monday.
Tether Increases Gold Reserves to 104 Tons, Worth $12.9 Billion
Investors piled into gold amid rising geopolitical tension, central bank demand, and market volatility, resulting in the precious metal posting a 64% growth in 2025 and an 18% rise year-to-date. This led to gold breaking through key psychological resistance levels at $3,000 per ounce in March 2025, $4,000 in October 2025, and $5,000 on Monday.
Tether remains primarily backed by U.S. Treasuries, but gold has become a major part of its reserve mix. The company reported $12.9 billion in gold holdings, equating to about 104 tons at the then-market prices, in the current quarter, which are part of the broader reserves supporting USDT and XAUT. At the end of September 2025, gold represented 7% of the company’s reserves.
For comparison, the National Bank of Poland (NBP), the world’s most active gold buyer among central banks, raised its total reserves by 35 tons in Q4 2025 to 550 tons.
The stablecoin giant’s gold strategy applies to both USDT and XAUT tokens. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the Tether Gold Investment Fund now operates “alongside sovereign gold holders” as it has grown large enough, before adding that its gold-backed stablecoin aims to “remove ambiguity” as confidence in global fiat monetary systems continues to weaken.
According to a year-end assurance report from TG Commodities S.A. de C.V., Tether held 520,089.35 fine troy ounces of gold as of December 31, 2025, backing 520,089 XAUT coins on a 1:1 basis. The same report noted that the bullions met “London Good Delivery” standards and are secured in Swiss vaults.
At the end of 2025, XAUT accounted for about 60% of the global gold-backed stablecoin market, with 16.2 tons of the precious metal backing the token. However, XAUT’s market share has narrowed in January as the tokenized gold market cap expanded, despite the token’s overall supply increasing. CoinGecko values the sector at roughly $5.3 billion, with Tether Gold accounting for $2.6 billion of that total.
Tether Becomes World’s Fifth-Largest Bitcoin Treasury Company
Tether also holds Bitcoin (BTC) in its reserves. Last month, the company added 8,888 BTC to its coffers in Q4 2025, bringing its total holdings to over 96,000 BTC, worth around $8.43 billion at current prices.
The stablecoin issuer announced in early 2023 that it would use up to 15% of its realized operating profits to buy Bitcoin – a move the company believes would strengthen and diversify its USDT reserves. Its latest purchase, confirmed by blockchain analytics firm Ember and finalized on January 1, 2026, included an on-chain transfer of 961 BTC from Bitfinex.
This accumulation strategy reinforces Tether’s role as a major institutional holder of the alpha cryptocurrency, ranking as the fifth-largest corporate Bitcoin treasuryin the world. Its bitcoins are stored in secure cold storage, separate from operational funds, and contribute heavily to its diversified reserves, which include Treasury bills and physical gold bars. This approach strengthens the company’s financial stability and signals long-term confidence in BTC as a store of value.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $87,950 – up 0.23% in 24 hours. Meanwhile, Gold (XAU) is currently trading at $5,070 per ounce – up 1.25% in 24 hours.
