Tether Expands Tokenized Gold Footprint as Holdings Near 140 Tons and USAt Debuts in U.S. Banking System

From Tokenized Gold Reserves to a Regulated U.S. Dollar Stablecoin

TL;DR

• Tether disclosed close to 140 tons of physical gold backing its tokenized gold strategy, stored in a former Swiss nuclear bunker and valued around $24 billion.
• CEO Paolo Ardoino said Tether is buying one to two tons of gold per week and aims to operate as a “gold central bank” in a post-dollar world.
• Tether launched USAt, a U.S.-regulated dollar stablecoin issued via Anchorage Digital, with an initial supply of $10 million.

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Tether’s tokenized gold business has moved into focus as the stablecoin issuer disclosed that it now holds close to 140 tons of physical gold, positioning the company among the largest private holders globally. The reserves are stored in a Cold War–era nuclear bunker in Switzerland and are primarily associated with Tether Gold, its tokenized gold product known as XAUT. The company said the gold holdings are currently valued at about $24 billion, reflecting recent strength in precious metals markets and providing the underlying collateral for its gold-linked digital assets.

Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive officer, described the company’s ambitions for its bullion operations in an interview cited by Bloomberg, saying Tether intends to become a “gold central bank” as confidence in fiat currencies weakens. Ardoino said gold is “logically a safer asset than any national currency,” adding that geopolitical rivals to the United States are likely to pursue gold-backed alternatives to the dollar. He said Tether continues to reinvest earnings into gold and is purchasing one to two tons per week, with plans to maintain that pace for “definitely the next few months.”

Beyond passive custody, Tether has begun preparing for active participation in bullion markets. Ardoino said the company plans to trade its gold reserves and is evaluating strategies to capture arbitrage opportunities. To support that effort, Tether has hired two senior gold traders from HSBC and has taken equity stakes in precious-metals companies including Elemental Altus Royalties and Gold Royalty Corp. The expansion coincides with a surge in gold prices, which Bloomberg cited at approximately $5,234 per troy ounce at the time of reporting, later soared to a new all-time high of $5,400.

Tether Gold remains the largest tokenized gold product by market share, holding more than half of the gold-backed token market with a capitalization of $2.62 billion. Despite that position, the company acknowledged increased competition as rival tokenized gold offerings gained traction. The gold strategy is funded by cash flows from Tether’s flagship stablecoin, USDT, which has more than $186 billion in circulation and continues to dominate stablecoin liquidity tied to crypto price movements tracked across the crypto price index.

After outlining its gold strategy, Tether turned attention to regulated dollar issuance with the launch of USAt, a U.S.-focused stablecoin designed to operate fully within the American banking system. The token is issued through Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, and is available to U.S. customers, unlike USDT. Tether said USAt was introduced with an initial supply of $10 million and deployed on Ethereum, with distribution planned through multiple centralized trading platforms as part of its integration into domestic financial infrastructure.

The USAt rollout followed the appointment of Bo Hines, a former White House crypto policy advisor, to the stablecoin’s leadership team. Tether framed the launch as part of a broader effort to align with U.S. regulatory requirements while maintaining parallel strategies across tokenized gold, global stablecoins, and traditional financial assets. The disclosures come as market participants continue to monitor crypto price volatility, coin market cap shifts, and the growing intersection between digital assets and physical commodities.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.