Crypto stablecoin issuer Tether stashes $8bn in gold in secret Swiss vault

Key topicsTether owns 80 tons of gold, making it a top global non-state holderGold backs nearly 5% of USDT reserves amid growing regulatory scrutinySecret vault in Switzerland aims to cut custody costs, boost gold tokenSign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By Jack Ryan.Tether Holdings SA, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, has its own vault in Switzerland to hold an $8 billion stockpile of gold, with an eye to growing those stores.The El Salvador-based crypto company now holds nearly 80 tons of gold, it said. The vast majority of that is owned by Tether directly, making it one of the largest gold holders in the world outside of banks and nation states. “We have our own vault. I believe it’s the most secure vault in the world,” Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said in an interview. The facility is in Switzerland, although the company declined to name its location for security reasons, or disclose when it was established..Tether is the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, which aims to maintain a one-to-one value with the US dollar and has $159 billion in circulation. The company receives dollars in return for the tokens it issues; it makes money from that collateral by investing in assets like US Treasuries. Precious metals make up nearly 5% of the company’s reserves, according to its latest report issued in March. At approximately $8 billion, the amount of gold held in Tether’s vault is roughly on par with the total value of precious metals and other commodities held by UBS Group AG, one of the few major bullion-dealing banks to publish such information in its quarterly accounts.The explosive growth of stablecoins has alarmed regulators and law-enforcement agencies, with Tether attracting particular attention given its size, and past doubts about the status of its reserves. One of the main worries is that as they soar in popularity, they would allow vast sums to change hands, bypassing the formal banking system.New regulations governing stablecoins have typically eschewed gold and other alternative assets as suitable support for digital dollars. Rules introduced in the European Union last year, as well as proposed legislation in the US, only permit cash and cash-equivalent assets like short-dated government bonds to back fiat currency-tied stablecoins. Tether would be required to sell the gold backing USDT under such rules, if it sought authorisation in those markets.In addition to USDT, the company has a gold-backed token, XAUT, each coin backed one-to-one by an ounce of gold. Tokens can be redeemed for physical gold, collected directly in Switzerland. The company has issued tokens equivalent to 7.7 tons of gold or $819 million, still a minnow compared to the more liquid gold-backed exchange-traded funds, the largest of which holds nearly 950 tons. .Read more:.BN Briefing: SA’s White House flop - 30% tariff set, Mkhwanazi opens Pandora's box, Musk vs Trump.“Gold, I think should be logically a safer asset than any national currency,” Ardoino said. “So eventually I think that if people start to get concerned about the potential increase of the debt of United States, they might look at alternatives.”Gold has rallied about 25% this year, as investors reach for safe havens to hedge against geopolitical tensions and an expanding trade war. Strong demand from central banks and sovereign institutions has also supported prices.“Every single central bank in the BRICS countries is buying gold,” Ardoino said, “so that is why gold price went up in our opinion.”The decision to have their own vault, rather than pay the vault operators commonly used by the precious metals industry, was driven by cost, he said. If Tether’s gold token was to grow to $100 billion in circulation, “it’s a lot of money to pay 50 basis points,” he said. “If you have your own vault, eventually with the size, it gets much cheaper to do custody.”.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Crypto stablecoin issuer Tether stashes $8bn in gold in secret Swiss vault

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