Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the agency holds roughly $8 billion in gold in a Swiss vault throughout an interview with Bloomberg Information on July 7.
Ardoino known as the positioning “essentially the most safe vault in the world” and stated the corporate owns virtually the complete 80-ton stockpile outright, putting the El Salvador-based issuer among the many largest non-public gold holders globally.
In accordance with a March attestation, gold now represents almost 5% of Tether’s $112 billion reserve portfolio. The stash’s greenback worth matches the valuable metals e-book at UBS Group AG, one of the few bullion-dealing banks that escape these holdings.
Tether’s USDT reached a market capitalization of $159 billion final month, following almost $5 billion in month-to-month progress.
Ardoino argued that Tether can scale a gold program with out proportionally larger charges by self-custodying bullion as an alternative of utilizing industrial vault operators, which cost about 50 foundation factors.
Regulatory headwinds in key markets
Lawmakers on each side of the Atlantic are transferring in the other way. Draft US payments such because the GENIUS Act and Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Belongings (MiCA) framework permit solely money or near-cash devices to collateralize fiat-referenced stablecoins, excluding commodities like gold.
If these guidelines take impact and Tether seeks licenses in these jurisdictions, it must liquidate the bullion that backs USDT, though the corporate may retain steel tied to its gold-backed token, XAUT.
Notably, MiCA granted licenses to 53 crypto corporations in the primary six months of regulation but excluded Tether.
XAUT circulates in opposition to 7.7 tons of gold, worth roughly $819 million, which is effectively beneath the 950-ton big amongst exchange-traded gold funds however giant sufficient to make redemptions viable at vault doorways in Switzerland.
Ardoino stated demand may speed up if traders lose confidence in US fiscal sustainability and search options that keep away from bank-deposit threat whereas remaining on-chain.
Market context and outlook for bullion-linked tokens
Spot gold has superior by roughly 25% in 2025 as merchants hedge tariff-driven commerce friction and wider geopolitical pressure.
Ardoino stated:
“Each single central financial institution in the BRICS international locations is shopping for gold, so that’s the reason the value went up in our opinion.”
Tether should nonetheless persuade regulators {that a} metal-heavy reserve wouldn’t impede USDT’s liquidity underneath stress.
For now, the agency holds the steel, earns yield on Treasurys, and retains a separate token immediately convertible into vaulted bars, combining conventional bullion economics with blockchain settlement.
