The issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, Tether, announced on Wednesday (July 9) that the company has established its own vault in Switzerland, currently storing gold valued at approximately $8 billion, weighing nearly 80 tons, and plans to further expand its gold holdings in the future.

It is reported that Tether chose to build its own vault rather than using traditional third-party vault operators commonly used in the precious metals industry mainly for cost considerations. Additionally, for security reasons, the company only confirmed that the vault is located in Switzerland but did not disclose the specific location or completion time.

Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in a media interview, "We have our own vault, and I believe it is the safest vault in the world."

The total circulation of the USDT stablecoin issued by Tether has reached $159 billion, aiming to maintain a one-to-one peg with the US dollar. Tether issues tokens by accepting US dollars as collateral and invests the related funds in low-risk assets such as US Treasury bonds to generate returns. According to the latest report released by the company in March this year, precious metals account for nearly 5% of its reserve assets.

Ardoino said, "Logically, gold should be safer than any national currency. Therefore, if people start to worry about the potential continued rise in US debt, they may begin to look for alternative assets. Every central bank in the BRICS countries is buying gold, which is also why we believe gold prices are rising."

In fact, Tether is not the first institution to put gold assets on the blockchain. In 2018, the American fintech company Paxos launched Paxos Gold (PAXG), with each token backed by one ounce of physical gold stored in a vault certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). PAXG was officially issued on the Ethereum (ETH) network in 2019 and is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), making it the world's first fully regulated gold-backed stablecoin.

In recent years, as the global economy and geopolitical situation have become more complex, multiple countries and institutions have accelerated their gold reserves. According to the latest data from the World Gold Council, BRICS countries collectively control over 20% of the world's official gold reserves, with Russia and China holding approximately 2,336 tons and 2,280 tons, respectively, accounting for 74% of the total BRICS reserves.

In the first half of the year, gold ETFs also experienced the largest net inflow in half a year since 2020, reaching $38 billion, with an increase of 397.1 tons, bringing total holdings to 3,615.9 tons, a new high since August 2022. Among them, US-listed ETFs increased by 206.8 tons, and Asian-listed ETFs increased by 104.3 tons, with Asian investors contributing 28% of the global net inflow, despite managing only 9% of global assets.

Additionally, a survey by the World Gold Council showed that 95% of central banks expect to continue increasing their gold holdings in the next 12 months.

Tether's gold hoarding also makes it one of the largest private gold holders in the world, aside from various central banks.

Since the beginning of this year, gold prices have performed strongly, rising approximately 27% year-to-date, and reached a historical high of $3,500 per ounce in April, breaking price records from previous years.

Looking ahead, the market generally holds a positive outlook on the continued upward potential of gold. JPMorgan's latest forecast indicates that the average gold price will reach $3,675 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2025, with expectations of approaching the $4,000 mark by mid-2026.

As the world's largest stablecoin issuer, Tether's stablecoin USDT is pegged to the US dollar, meaning that theoretically, for every USDT issued, Tether must hold an equivalent amount of US dollar assets as reserves.

However, in reality, Tether's reserve assets are not solely US dollar cash but include various assets such as US Treasury bonds, Bitcoin (BTC), and gold. Additionally, Tether has launched gold-backed stablecoin XAUT and gold-collateralized derivative stablecoin aUSDt. According to data from Tether's official website, the current circulating market value of XAUT is approximately 813 million yuan, corresponding to 7.66 tons of gold, equivalent to 644 standard "London Good Delivery" gold bars.

From an asset management perspective, the main reasons for Tether's accumulation of gold are:

• To combat the risk of fiat currency depreciation: Gold, as a traditional safe-haven asset, can effectively hedge against the risks brought by fiat currency depreciation.

• To enhance reserve diversification: By holding gold, Tether can reduce its reliance on a single asset and diversify risk.

• To improve transparency and compliance: Publicly disclosing gold reserves helps enhance Tether's transparency and respond to market concerns about its reserve structure.

However, the volatility of gold prices may impact Tether's stablecoin. If gold prices fall significantly, it could lead to a decrease in the value of Tether's reserve assets, thereby affecting the value stability of USDT. Additionally, the liquidity of gold reserves is relatively low, which may hinder the ability to quickly liquidate in times of increased market demand, thus affecting USDT's redemption capability.

In recent years, Bitcoin's role has gradually shifted from a risk asset to a safe-haven asset; Bitcoin is a decentralized "digital gold," while gold has been a recognized store of value for centuries. However, with the frequent volatility and trust crises in the crypto market, Tether's recent move to back "digital dollars" with "real gold" seems to be a new attempt by the crypto world to sustain itself with traditional hard assets.

In the past few years, stablecoins have repeatedly faced doubts about "insufficient reserves" or "lack of transparency." Tether's increase in physical gold provides a touchpoint for digital currency, effectively conveying a sense of "tangible security" to investors in a turbulent market. On a deeper level, Tether's actions also reflect the trend of the entire crypto industry moving closer to traditional finance: for cryptocurrencies to gain broader legitimacy, they must rely on proven value carriers in the real world.

However, whether "real gold" can truly resolve the credit dilemma of cryptocurrencies remains to be seen.

Related: Bitcoin (BTC) receives "extremely favorable" signals as DXY hits a 21-year low.

Original article: “Stablecoins Love Gold Too: The Hedging Logic Behind Tether's 80-Ton Hoard”

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