Tether says it bought 27 tons of gold in fourth quarter

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Tether, issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, added astir 27 metric tons of golden to its money vulnerability successful the 4th fourth of ​2025, it said connected Monday, broadly unchanged from its third-quarter purchases estimated by analysts ‌at 26 tons.

Gold's 18% emergence year-to-date connected apical of 64% maturation successful 2025 has seen it interruption done cardinal ‌psychological absorption levels astatine $3,000 per ounce successful March, $4,000 successful October and $5,000 connected Monday owed to beardown investment, central-bank and retail request amid mounting planetary tensions.

As spot golden prices person rallied, the crypto institution has go a important root of golden request owed to the precocious velocity of purchases it ⁠has reported for reserves backing the ‌Tether USDT stablecoin, a integer dollar with $187 cardinal worthy of tokens successful circulation, and the Tether XAUT golden token, worthy $2.7 billion.

Each Tether-issued dollar token is ‍intended to correspond 1 U.S. dollar held successful reserve. When a idiosyncratic provides Tether with a dollar, the institution issues 1 USDT and holds assets of equivalent value, specified arsenic the U.S. Treasury bills. Those ​reserves are meant to guarantee that USDT tin beryllium redeemed for dollars if request be. ‌Tether XAUT stablecoin is afloat backed by gold.

"We are operating astatine a standard that present places the Tether Gold Investment Fund alongside sovereign golden holders, and that carries existent responsibility," said Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, successful Tether's statement.

For comparison, Poland's cardinal bank, the astir progressive purchaser among cardinal banks reporting their purchases, raised its full reserves by 35 tons successful the 4th fourth ⁠to 550 tons.

Tether did not accidental however overmuch golden ​it held stored successful Switzerland for the 2 products successful ​total.

For the Tether golden token, XAUT, accounting for 60% of the planetary gold-backed stablecoin supply, Tether held 16.2 tons of golden to backmost it up arsenic ‍of the extremity of ⁠December.

Its third-quarter audit of reserves for Tether dollar stablecoin, USDT, the latest publically available, showed stocks of golden worthy $12.9 cardinal arsenic of the extremity of September, which would beryllium ⁠equal to astir 104 tons of golden astatine the marketplace terms astatine that time.

The reserves backing Tether USDT were ‌dominated by the U.S. Treasuries with golden representing lone 7% arsenic of the ‌end-September.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Nia Williams)