Tether, the crypto company behind the world’s most popular stablecoin The United States has continued to hoard gold over the past month, ranking among the world’s top 30 gold owners and surpassing several sovereign nations, according to a report released on Sunday by Wall Street investment bank Jefferies.
Analysts at Jefferies said the stablecoin issuer’s gold reserves had grown to an estimated 148 tons, worth about $23 billion, as of January 31, after the company purchased about 26 tons in the last quarter of 2025 and added another 6 tons in January.
Jefferies estimates show Tether’s quarterly gold purchases exceeded those of most individual central banks, trailing only Poland and Brazil during the period.
Analysts said that at current levels, Tether’s holdings exceed those of countries such as Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Korea and Greece, putting the cryptocurrency company among the top 30 holders of gold in the world and one of the largest non-sovereign buyers.
These 148 tons of gold serve as reserves to support its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT and gold-backed token XAUT. But the report added that the company may hold more gold than disclosed.
Because Tether is privately held, these figures represent a minimum estimate of its total gold exposure, and there may be undisclosed additional purchases on the company’s balance sheet.
According to USDT’s fourth quarter certification, gold reserves were approximately US$17 billion, and the gold price at the end of the year was 126 tons.
As of the end of January, XAUT’s supply increased to 712,000 tokens worth $3.2 billion, with an increase of 6 tons of gold backing the token. CEO Paolo Ardoino told CoinDesk in an October interview that retail demand for gold reserves comes primarily from emerging markets.
The accumulation coincides with a record-breaking rise in gold prices, which topped $5,000 an ounce last month and is up nearly 50% since September. The driving forces behind the move are central bank demand, rising long-term government bond yields and efforts by some investors to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar.
Jefferies noted that the company’s acquisition spree is likely to continue. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company plans to allocate 10%-15% of its portfolio to physical gold, formalizing a strategy that has been in the works for several years.
According to CoinDesk, Tether’s investment portfolio was worth $20 billion as of the end of last year.
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