Wall Street investment bank Jefferies has ranked stablecoin issuer Tether among the top 30 global holders of gold, as its reserves crossed 148 tonnes in January, valued at roughly $23 billion.
The firm behind the USDT, USAT, and XAUT tokens bought roughly 26 tonnes of the yellow metal in Q4 2025, and added another six tonnes last month. Jefferies noted that Tether’s quarterly gold buying rate exceeded that of most global central banks, trailing only the Bank of Poland (NBP) and Banco Central do Brasil during that period.
Tether Gold Accounts for More Than Half the Entire Gold-Backed Stablecoin Market as XAU₮ Surpasses $4 Billion in Value
— Tether (@tether) January 26, 2026
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Tether Reports 148 Tonnes of Gold in Reserves, Beating Australia, UAE, Qatar, South Korea, and Greece
Analysts at the bank noted that at the current level, Tether’s gold holdings exceed those of several countries, including Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea, and Greece. This places the crypto firm among the top-30 bullion holders worldwide and one of the largest non-sovereign buyers of the precious metal.
The 148 tonnes worth of gold is held as reserves backing its US dollar-denominated USDT and the gold-backed XAUT stablecoins. But since the company is privately owned, its disclosures are likely to represent a minimum estimate of its total gold exposure, with reports suggesting it has made additional purchases.
In its USDT attestation report for Q4 2025, Tether reported holdings of $17.4 billion in gold, amounting to 126 tonnes as per year-end gold prices. The company has been buying physical gold at a rate of up to 2 tons a week, and according to CEO Paolo Ardoino, that pace could total more than $1 billion in monthly bullion purchases.
Meanwhile, XAUT’s supply grew to 712,000 tokens by the end of January, valued at $3.2 billion. This marked an increase of 6 tonnes of gold backing the stablecoin. The asset has witnessed rapid expansion in the previous quarter, even outpacing Tether’s flagship USDT stablecoin in growth terms, as demand for real and tokenized gold surged worldwide. The stablecoin is now among the top-50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Tether Expands Gold Exposure With 10%–15% Portfolio Target
Speaking to Bloomberg, Ardoino said the firm hauls its gold acquisitions into a high-security vault in Switzerland that was once a nuclear bunker, hidden behind multiple layers of steel doors. Tether’s reserve has only gotten more valuable as of late, coinciding with a record-breaking gold rally, as it soared to new all-time highs earlier this week, crossing $5,000 an ounce for the first time. The metal is up nearly 50% since September, driven by central bank demand, rising long-term government bond yields, and efforts by some investors to use gold to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.
Jefferies noted that the company’s gold-buying spree may continue, with Ardoino stating plans to allocate 10% to 15% of Tether’s investment portfolio to bullion, formalizing a strategy that has already played out over several years.
Tether reported more than $10 billion in net profit at the end of 2025, driven by growth for USDT and its increased exposure to U.S. Treasuries – making it one of the largest holders with up to $141 billion in T-bills in its balance sheet. The company closed the year with $6.3 billion in excess reserves backing $186.5 billion in liabilities. Its investment portfolio was valued at $20 billion as of December 31, 2025.
At the time of writing, Tether Gold (XAUT) is trading at $4,965 – up 0.11% in 24 hours.
