Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company aims to become the “central bank of gold” as the global financial system moves towards a post-dollar era.
Ardoino explained that Tether is on track to become one of the institutions managing the world’s largest gold reserves, and plans not only to hold its reserves but also to actively trade them.
According to Ardoino, countries that are geopolitically rivals to the US may introduce gold-backed currencies as an alternative to the dollar. In this context, Tether’s role in the gold market is expected to grow. Ardoino has previously emphasized that gold is “logically a safer asset than any national currency.”
Ardoino stated that the company has reinvested its recent high profits in gold, adding that Tether is buying one to two tons of gold per week and that this pace will continue in the coming months.
Tether reportedly currently holds approximately 140 tons of gold in Switzerland, stored in a facility resembling a nuclear bunker built during the Cold War. This amount stands out as one of the largest known gold reserves outside of central banks, ETFs, and commercial banks.
With the strong rise in gold prices, the value of Tether’s gold holdings has exceeded $23.3 billion. The price of gold per ounce is currently hovering around $5,234.
Tether is planning to expand beyond reserve management and enter the gold trading market, potentially competing with giants like JPMorgan and HSBC. To this end, the company has hired two senior HSBC gold traders. It has also increased its equity investments in several Canadian-based companies to capitalize on the gold and precious metals rally.
Tether, which dominates the global stablecoin market with USDT, aims to diversify its revenue by channeling this strong cash flow into assets such as gold. The company’s gold-backed stablecoin, XAUT, leads the market with a market capitalization of $2.62 billion.
*This is not investment advice.