Tether, the issuer of the dominant dollar‑pegged stablecoin USDT, has been quietly accumulating physical gold at a pace that market participants and journalists say exceeds one tonne a week, making its vaults among the largest non‑bank, non‑state repositories of the metal. Over the past year the company has emerged as a major, if opaque, player in the global gold market, prompting its chief executive, Paolo Ardoino, to liken Tether’s role to that of a central bank and to forecast the rise of gold‑backed alternatives to the dollar from Washington’s geopolitical rivals.
The strategy marks a striking pivot for a firm best known for creating and maintaining crypto liquidity. Tether’s business model rests on issuing USDT tokens that are supposed to be backed by reserves; that backing has been the subject of repeated public scrutiny. Moving large sums into physical bullion both changes the composition of those reserves and brings Tether into a market traditionally dominated by central banks, bullion dealers and regulated financial institutions.
The scale of accumulation, if sustained, has implications for price and liquidity. Buying more than a tonne weekly equates to tens of tonnes annually — a material footprint in a market where central‑bank demand, ETF flows and jewelry consumption all vie to move the price. Gold has already been flirting with new highs, supported by central‑bank buying and macroeconomic uncertainty, and a private actor with deep pockets and crypto ties could further tighten available supply.
Ardoino has been explicit about intent: Tether plans to plow sizable profits into the gold market and to challenge banks on bullion trading. He also suggested that geopolitical rivals of the United States may pursue gold‑backed currency alternatives — a contention that blends commercial ambition with geopolitical narrative and taps into the broader debate over de‑dollarisation.
That combination of market power and opacity raises immediate questions. Unlike central banks, Tether is a private company with a history of contested reserve disclosures; large purchases of physical gold raise custody, audit and compliance issues that extend beyond price dynamics to regulatory and reputational risk. Banks and exchanges accustomed to dealing with institutional counterparties may find themselves negotiating with a crypto issuer that aims to be both a market maker and a major holder.
The geopolitical angle matters too. If private firms begin to stitch monetary‑like credibility around new instruments — for instance, creating vehicles that combine crypto rails with gold backing — they could complicate policymakers’ efforts to maintain the integrity of sanctions, currency stability and international payments architecture. At the same time, a growing private demand pool can bolster gold prices and provide an alternative store of value for investors seeking to hedge fiat risk.
Investors, regulators and central banks will be watching several signals: transparency about the provenance and custody of the bullion, independent audits of reserves, the mechanics through which Tether intends to trade or monetise its holdings, and any coordination with banks or sovereign actors. Those answers will determine whether this is a conventional asset‑allocation story, a new form of private monetary intermediation, or a flashpoint prompting closer scrutiny of the intersection between crypto firms and traditional financial plumbing.