Why Tether is buying more gold than many central banks and what it signals

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, acquired 26 metric tons of gold in Q3 2025, making it the largest single buyer that quarter, exceeding the combined purchases of all reporting central banks. This brought Tether's total holdings to 116 tons, placing it among the top 30 global gold holders. This trend highlights a structural shift where large private players, including stablecoin issuers, sovereign wealth funds, and corporations, are increasingly competing with central banks in building gold reserves, driven by geopolitical uncertainty.

Tether emphasizes that these purchases are made from profits to support diversification, resilience, and collateralization for USDT, not from customer reserves backing the stablecoin. Quarterly independent attestations confirm that gold represents about 7% of Tether's total consolidated reserves. While central banks buy gold for national monetary policy, Tether uses it for corporate reserves and operational purposes.

Central banks globally added a net 220 tons in Q3 2025, despite record gold prices. Tether's accumulation does not signal liquidity problems or predict future gold prices, as private entities manage reserves under different objectives than national monetary authorities.

(Source：Cointelegraph)