Tether, the crypto company behind the world’s most popular stablecoin continued its gold hoarding over the past month, ranking among the top 30 global owners of the metal and surpassing several sovereign nations, according to a Sunday report from Wall Street investment bank Jefferies.
The stablecoin issuer’s gold reserves rose to an estimated 148 tons as of Jan. 31, valued at about $23 billion, after buying about 26 tons in the final quarter of 2025 and adding another 6 tons in January, Jefferies analysts said.
Jefferies estimates show that Tether’s quarterly gold purchases exceeded those of most individual central banks, trailing only Poland and Brazil during that period.
At current levels, Tether holdings surpass those of countries such as Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea and Greece, placing the crypto firm among the top 30 bullion holders worldwide and one of the largest non-sovereign buyers, analysts said.
The 148 tonnes of bullion are held as reserves backing both its USDT stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and its gold-backed XAUT token. But the company could have more gold than it has disclosed, the report added.
Because Tether is privately held, the figures represent a minimum estimate of its total exposure to gold, and additional undisclosed purchases are likely to be made on the company’s balance sheet.
According to the USDT’s fourth-quarter certification, around $17 billion worth of gold was in reserves, amounting to 126 tons at year-end gold prices.
The supply of XAUT grew 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 interview in October that gold backing was enjoying strong retail demand primarily from emerging markets.
The buildup coincided with a record rally in gold, which surpassed $5,000 an ounce last month and advanced nearly 50% since September. The driving forces behind this move are demand from central banks, rising long-term government bond yields and efforts by some investors to reduce dependence on the US dollar.
The company’s buying spree may continue, Jefferies noted. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company plans to allocate between 10% and 15% of its investment portfolio to physical gold, formalizing a strategy that has already been in development for several years.
Tether’s investment portfolio was valued at $20 billion at the end of last year, CoinDesk reported.
Read more: Tether is buying up to $1 billion worth of gold a month and storing it in a ‘James Bond’ bunker
