Stablecoin Giant Tether in Talks to Deepen Gold Investments Beyond $8.7B Reserves

Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, is exploring deeper exposure to gold by investing directly across the metal’s global supply chain. Key Takeaways: Tether is expanding its gold strategy with investments across mining, refining, and trading.

The company has already poured over $200 million into gold royalty firm Elemental Altus. CEO Paolo Ardoino views gold as a natural complement to Bitcoin, calling it “our source of nature.

” Tether has held talks with multiple mining and investment groups to back ventures spanning extraction, refining, trading, and royalty finance, the Financial Times reported , citing sources familiar with the matter. The company already holds $8.

7 billion in gold reserves stored in Zurich, used as partial backing for its tokens, but now appears to be eyeing physical gold investments on a much larger scale. Tether CEO Calls Gold “Our Source of Nature” Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino has publicly praised gold as a foundational store of value, going as far as calling it “our source of nature.

” In a May speech, he said: “I know people think that bitcoin is ‘digital gold. ’ I prefer to think in Bitcoin terms — I think gold is our source of nature.

” The company has made initial moves in the space. In June, Tether Investments acquired a $105 million stake in Elemental Altus, a Toronto-listed gold royalty firm.

Just last week, it followed up with an additional $100 million investment, timed with Elemental’s merger with rival EMX. According to Juan Sartori, head of business initiatives at Tether, the goal is to build out a broader “gold exposure” strategy.

Tether’s interest has raised eyebrows among gold insiders. “They like gold.

I don’t think they have a strategy,” said one mining executive. Another commodity veteran called Tether “the weirdest company I have ever dealt with.

” When the biggest #stablecoin starts buying gold mines… what does that tell you? #Crypto giants are parking profits in precious metals.

Signal or warning? #Tether #Gold #Silver pic.

twitter. com/KmmcoKikL7 — Jay Roberge (@jmroberge) September 5, 2025 Talks were also held with Terranova Resources, a British Virgin Islands-based gold vehicle, though those negotiations did not lead to a deal.

Tether runs XAUt, a token backed by physical gold, but it remains a niche product with a market cap under $900 million, far from USDT’s dominant $168 billion. The company also operates a growing commodity trade finance book, issuing short-term loans for bulk raw material shipments.

As digital assets continue to merge with traditional commodities, Tether’s gold ambitions signal a broader effort to blend blockchain-based finance with hard-asset backing. Trump-Backed GENIUS Act Boosts US Push for Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins The recent passage of the GENIUS Act , signed by President Trump, aims to cement the dollar’s dominance by backing dollar-pegged stablecoins in global markets.

The Treasury Department expects the stablecoin market to exceed $2 trillion by 2028, a projection that places greater emphasis on liquidity, interoperability, and regulatory alignment across the ecosystem. Tether’s latest move underscores a pragmatic shift toward that future.

As reported, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said the stablecoin sector is poised for explosive growth, projecting the market could balloon from its current $250 billion capitalization to as much as $2 trillion in the near future. “Many people think it will reach $1 to $2 trillion in a handful of years,” Garlinghouse said, adding that Ripple is positioned to benefit from that trajectory.

Meanwhile, Western Union is positioning itself for a new phase of digital transformation, signaling strong interest in using stablecoins to modernize its global remittance operations. CEO Devin McGranahan has outlined how stablecoins could streamline cross-border transfers, improve currency conversion in underserved markets, and provide financial tools for populations grappling with unstable local currencies.

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