Key conclusions

• Tether bought 26 tons of gold in the third quarter of 2025, a larger quarterly acquisition than any reporting central bank. Its total reserves reached 116 tons, placing it among the 30 largest gold holders in the world.

• Stablecoin issuers, sovereign wealth funds, corporations and technology companies are increasingly vigorous in gold markets. This trend marks a structural shift in global demand, once dominated by central banks.

• Central banks added 220 tonnes of gold in the third quarter of 2025, an escalate of 28% compared to the second quarter. Countries such as Kazakhstan, Brazil, Türkiye and Guatemala made significant gains despite record prices.

• While central banks purchase gold as part of national monetary policy, Tether purchases come from earnings and support the diversification, resilience and hedging of USDT.

The global financial system is going through a period in which non-state actors are competing with central banks to create gold reserves. Tether, the issuer of Tether USDt (USDT) – the largest stablecoin in the world – is currently one of the largest buyers of gold. In one quarter, the company purchased more gold than most central banks did in the same period.

The article examines how the company outpaced central banks in purchasing gold for its reserves and discusses independent certification of purchases. It also examines the rise of non-state gold buyers and what Tether’s gold purchases do not indicate.

Private company ahead of central banks in purchasing gold

In the third quarter of 2025, Tether added 26 tons of gold to its reserves. According to analysts at Jefferies, this made Tether the single largest buyer of gold this quarter, exceeding the combined purchases of all reporting central banks.

By the end of September 2025, Tether’s total reported gold reserves were approximately 116 tonnes. If placed alongside countries on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) official list of gold reserves, it would place Tether among the 30 largest holders of gold in the world, ahead of countries such as Greece, Qatar and Australia.

An analysis by investment bank Jefferies shows that the 26-ton purchase of Tether in the third quarter of 2025 exceeded the official gold purchases made by many mid-sized central banks during the same period. This reflects a broader trend.

Huge private players, including stablecoin issuers, sovereign wealth funds and multinational corporations, are becoming significant participants in markets once dominated by governments. Research by the World Gold Council has also shown this pointed to growing non-state demand for gold.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino he said on X: “While the world continues to darken, Tether will continue to invest a portion of its profits in safe assets such as Bitcoin, gold and land.” The company stressed that gold purchases are made from profits and not from the reserves of USDT-backing customers. It maintains that diversification into real assets enhances long-term resilience.

Independent certification: Proven gold penetration

Tether publishes quarterly independent certifications prepared by major accounting firms. These reports provide insight into the company’s resources:

• As of September 30, 2025, gold and precious metals account for approx 7% total consolidated Tether reserves.

• This figure includes both gold-backed USDT and gold allocated to Tether Gold (XAUT), Tether’s tokenized gold product.

• XAUT has a market value of approximately $1.6 billion, equivalent to less than 12 tons of gold.

• More than 100 tonnes of the reported gold is unrelated to XAUT and is part of Tether’s wider reserves and corporate investments.

Did you know? Tether’s USDT became the first stablecoin to surpass the $100 billion market capitalization, marking a significant advance in digital finance. Its scale allows it to function as a key level of liquidity across the scale cryptocurrency exchangesdecentralized financial platforms and global remittance routes.

Tether Comparison with Central Banks

The WGC’s “Gold Demand Trends – Q3 2025” report shows that central banks around the world added 220 net tons of gold in the third quarter of 2025. For context, it was this 28% higher than in the second quarter and 6% higher than the five-year quarterly average.

In 2025, the price of gold has increased by approximately 50% since the beginning of the year. Record high prices have likely narrow the scale of initial purchases. However, the renewed escalate in central bank demand in the last quarter indicates that these institutions continue to strategically add gold. They do this even in the face of much higher prices.

To facilitate comparison of Tether’s gold purchases in Q3 2025, below is information on similar activity of central banks:

• The largest buyer this quarter was the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which increased its gold reserves by 18 tonnes to a total of 324 tonnes.

• The Central Bank of Brazil, making its first gold purchase since July 2021, saw its gold reserves escalate by 15 tonnes in September 2025, bringing its total gold reserves to 145 tonnes.

• The Central Bank of Turkey maintained continuous gold accumulation, and the official gold reserves of the central bank and treasury increased by seven tons to 641 tons in the third quarter.

• The Bank of Guatemala increased its gold reserves by six tons this quarter, a significant jump of 91%. The bank currently holds a total of 13 tons of gold, representing 5% of its total reserves.

When making such comparisons, it is crucial to remember that central banks have different goals when purchasing gold.

Central banks purchase gold as part of their national monetary strategy, while Tether holds gold as part of its corporate reserves. The acquired gold serves as a backstop for the stablecoin and an asset diversification tactic.

Did you know? USDT is not tied to a single network. It is deployed on over 15 blockchains including EtherTron, Solana, Polygon and Avalanche.

Enhance in the number of non-state buyers of gold

Before the emergence of non-state gold buyers like Tether, gold demand was driven primarily by central banks, the jewelry sector and commodity investors. However, in recent years, an increasing share of gold purchases have come from private institutions, sovereign wealth funds, stablecoin issuers and corporate treasuries.

This change is due to geopolitical uncertainty and fluctuations in currency values. Stablecoin issuers in particular have become significant participants. They obtain gold in quantities once associated with mid-sized national central banks.

The largest technology companies and investment funds also add gold to their portfolios as part of broader strategies.

The rapid growth of non-state gold buyers makes them constitute a noticeable part of the total gold demand. Currently, they constitute a constantly growing segment that is changing the structure of global demand for gold.

Did you know? Tether is independently audited quarterly by a leading global accounting firm. These reports verify assets, liabilities, reserve structure and exposure.

Which is not indicated by Tether’s purchase of gold

To prevent confusion, it is crucial to clearly define what this accumulation of gold does not mean:

• It does not indicate liquidity problems or risk of insolvency. Independent certification confirms the relationship between assets and liabilities. A private entity purchasing gold does not in itself indicate financial difficulties unless such concerns are disclosed by the private entity.

• It does not signal upcoming gold price movements. The purchase of gold by a non-state entity does not imply any market forecasts or development directions.

• Due to the way central banks operate, this is not a monetary decision. Private companies manage their reserves based on different objectives and principles, and their gold holdings serve corporate and operational purposes, not national monetary policy.

This helps put Tether’s gold purchase into proper context and helps better understand what this move means.