Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, has increased its gold reserves to more than 146 metric tons, adding 14 tons during the second quarter, the company announced in a statement summarizing its April–June results.
Last year, the crypto firm emerged as a major gold buyer, building reserves to back its Tether USDT stablecoin — which has 183.7 billionintokensincirculation — aswellasitsgold‑backedtokenTetherXAUT,with2.9 billion in circulation.
Each USDT token issued by Tether is pegged to one US dollar held in reserves. When a user transfers a dollar to Tether, the company issues one USDT and holds assets of equivalent value, such as US Treasury bonds. These reserves are designed to ensure that USDT can be redeemed for dollars on demand. In contrast, the Tether XAUT token is fully backed by gold.
According to the report, the reserves backing Tether USDT included gold holdings worth $18.8 billion as of the end of June.
“We remain one of the world’s largest buyers of US Treasury bonds, reduced secured lending by $2.38 billion, and added 14 tons of physical gold,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
The company’s net operating profit for the quarter reached $1.50 billion, driven by its portfolio of US Treasury bonds and repurchase (repo) operations, he added.
Data indicate that Tether stepped up its gold purchases in the second quarter — a period when gold posted its largest quarterly decline since 2013, dropping 14 %. The company had acquired 6 tons in the first quarter.
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