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USD₮ is by far the most widely traded stablecoin in circulation, with a market capitalization of around $187 billion and over 530 million active users worldwide. At the end of 2025, Tether, the company that issues it, stated that it had an exposure of $141 billion in United States Treasury bonds, used as collateral to maintain the USD₮ peg to the US dollar.
The far-sighted strategy of investing the liquidity created by the issuance of tokens in Treasury securities not only allowed USD₮ to weather the 2022 cryptocurrency crisis caused by the collapse of the Terra/Luna stablecoin without consequences, but, precisely thanks to this stability, it also became a reference model in the drafting of the GENIUS Act, approved by the White House in July 2025. At the same time, this strategy enabled Tether to benefit more than almost any other actor from the increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.
In parallel, Tether has embarked on an aggressive and ambitious plan to accumulate Bitcoin and gold. Starting in 2023, the company has stated that it will “regularly allocate up to 15% of net operating profits” to buy Bitcoin. According to the latest Attestation Report, Tether currently owns 96,185 Bitcoin.
116 tons of physical gold
Tether also holds about $17.45 billion in physical gold, as well as another $2.25 billion in gold bullion earmarked for the reserve that backs the XAU₮ token. In total, these reserves represent at least 116 tons of gold, an amount that continues to grow quarter-on-quarter, in both value and volume.
It is for this reason that the Financial Times has dubbed Tether the “Golden Whale,” describing it as “the largest holder of gold outside of central banks.” Its reserves, according to the British newspaper, are now “roughly equal to those of the central banks of smaller countries, such as South Korea, Hungary, or Greece.”
According to the Financial Times, Tether's gold purchases during the third quarter of 2025 accounted for about 2% of total global gold demand and nearly 12% of purchases made by central banks. This is additional demand that did not previously exist and is expected to further fuel the rise in the price of the precious metal.
Last November, Bloomberg also reported that Tether had recruited some of “HSBC’s top gold traders,” considered one of the largest global players in the precious metals market after JPMorgan Chase. A clear signal that physical gold purchases will not only continue, but may even accelerate in the coming quarters.
Tether's interest in gold doesn't stop there. The company has increased its strategic stake in Elemental Altus, a Canadian-listed company that generates royalties from precious metals, primarily gold. Tether currently owns 33.7% of the company's shares.
S&P's negative rating and the clash with "old finance"
However, S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Tether to the lowest level of its rating. The agency considers the company’s ability to maintain the USD₮ peg to the dollar to “weak” due to “increased riskier activities” in support of reserves. It also criticized limited transparency about counterparties, depositors, and bank account providers.
Executive Director Paolo Ardoino immediately reacted, stating that S&P “has no idea how Tether works.” According to him, the agency represents “old finance, which is afraid of change and uses every propaganda tool to discredit companies like Tether, which are changing the world and addressing the problems created by greed and instability of the traditional financial system.”
Ardoino himself recalls that the credibility of rating agencies has been severely damaged following their role in the fraudulent practices that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
In this context, the continued rise in the price of gold is seen as a direct consequence of the structural insecurity of the global economic and financial system, the ongoing erosion of the value of the currency and the uncontrolled growth of debt. It is no coincidence that Bitcoin was born in 2009, in the same climate of anger that fueled the “Occupy Wall Street” protests.
Therefore, despite warnings from S&P Global Ratings, Tether's bet on gold and Bitcoin could prove to be a winning choice in the long run. / Adapted from "Inside Over"
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