Tether (USDT-USD), the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, said that it added roughly 27 metric tons of gold (GLD) to its exposure in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was about the same pace as the prior quarter. This buying comes as gold continues a powerful rally that’s seen it rise 18% year-to-date and 64% in 2025. Along the way, gold broke several major psychological levels, such as $3,000 an ounce in March, $4,000 in October, and $5,000 earlier this week. This has been driven by strong demand from investors, central banks, and retail buyers, as well as rising global tensions.
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Interestingly, Tether is a notable source of demand because of how quickly it accumulates reserves. In fact, the company backs its $187 billion USDT stablecoin with assets that are meant to match the value of its tokens in circulation. It also issues a separate gold-backed token, XAUT, which is fully supported by physical gold and currently has a market value of about $2.7 billion. According to CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s gold activity has grown large enough to put it in the same conversation as some sovereign gold holders.
For context, Poland’s central bank, one of the most aggressive official buyers, added 35 tons of gold in the same quarter, bringing its total reserves to 550 tons. Tether did not disclose the total amount of gold it stores in Switzerland, but it reported holding 16.2 tons to back its XAUT token, which represents about 60% of the global gold-backed stablecoin market. Meanwhile, the latest available audit showed that USDT reserves included about $12.9 billion worth of gold as of late September, equal to roughly 104 tons at the time. Even so, gold made up just 7% of USDT’s reserves, with U.S. Treasuries remaining the top asset.
Is Gold a Good Buy?
Using TipRanks’ technical analysis tool, the indicators seem to point to a positive outlook for gold. Indeed, the summary section pictured below shows that 15 indicators are Bullish, compared to one Neutral and six Bearish indicators.
