Tether, the crypto company behind the world’s most popular stablecoin continued its hoarding of gold over the past month, ranking among the world’s top 30 owners of the metal and overtaking several sovereign countries, according to a report released Sunday by Wall Street investment bank Jefferies.
The stablecoin issuer’s gold reserves reached around 148 tonnes as of January 31, valued at around $23 billion, after purchasing around 26 tonnes in the final quarter of 2025 and adding another 6 tonnes in January, Jefferies analysts said.
Estimates from Jefferies show that Tether’s quarterly gold purchases exceeded those of most central banks, trailing only Poland and Brazil during this period.
At current levels, Tether’s holdings exceed those of countries like Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea and Greece, placing the crypto company among the world’s top 30 bullion holders and one of the largest non-sovereign buyers, analysts said.
The 148 tons of bars are held as reserves supporting both its US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT and its gold-backed token XAUT. But the company may hold more gold than reported, the report added.
Since Tether is a private company, the figures represent a minimum estimate of its total gold exposure, with additional undisclosed purchases likely made on the company’s balance sheet.
According to USDT’s fourth quarter attestation, the reserves contained some $17 billion in gold, or 126 tonnes at year-end gold prices.
XAUT’s supply increased to 712,000 tokens worth $3.2 billion at the end of January, an increase of 6 tons of gold backing the tokens. CEO Paolo Ardoino told CoinDesk in an October interview that gold was benefiting from strong retail demand, primarily from emerging markets.
The accumulation coincided with a record rally in gold, surpassing $5,000 an ounce last month and rising nearly 50% since September. The driving forces behind the move are central bank demand, rising long-term government bond yields and efforts by some investors to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar.
The company’s buying spree could continue, Jefferies noted. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company plans to allocate 10-15% of its investment portfolio to physical gold, formalizing a strategy that has already been in the works for several years.
Tether’s investment portfolio was valued at $20 billion at the end of last year, CoinDesk reported.
Read more: Tether buys up to $1 billion in gold per month and stores it in a ‘James Bond’ bunker
