Why Tether Is Buying More Gold Than Many Central Banks, And What It Signals

Authored by Dilip Kumar Patairya via CoinTelegraph.com,

• Tether purchased 26 tons of gold in Q3 2025, a larger quarterly acquisition than any reporting central bank. Its total holdings reached 116 tons, placing it among the world’s top 30 gold holders.

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

• Central banks added 220 tons of gold in Q3 2025, up 28% from Q2. Countries such as Kazakhstan, Brazil, Turkey and Guatemala made notable additions despite record prices.

• While central banks buy gold for national monetary policy, Tether’s purchases come from profits and support diversification, resilience and collateralization for USDT.

The global financial system is witnessing a period when non-state entities are competing with central banks to build gold reserves. Tether, the issuer of Tether USDt – the largest stablecoin in the world – is now one of the largest buyers of gold. In a single quarter, the company purchased more gold than most central banks did in the same period.

This article explores how an enterprise moved ahead of central banks in purchasing gold for its reserves and discusses independent attestations of the purchase. It also examines the rise of non-state gold buyers and what Tether’s gold buying does not indicate.

A private company outpacing central banks in buying gold

During the third quarter of 2025, Tether added 26 metric tons of gold to its holdings. According to analysts at Jefferies, this made Tether the single-largest gold buyer in that quarter, larger than the combined purchases of all reporting central banks.

By the end of September 2025, Tether’s total reported gold holdings stood at about 116 tons. If ranked alongside countries on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) official gold reserves list, this would place Tether among the top 30 holders worldwide, ahead of nations such as Greece, Qatar and Australia.

Per analysis from the investment bank Jefferies, Tether’s 26-ton purchase in Q3 2025 exceeded the official gold purchases of many mid-sized central banks during the same period. This reflects a wider trend.

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

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on X, “While the world continues to get darker, Tether will continue to invest part of its profits into safe assets like Bitcoin, Gold and Land.” The company has emphasized that these gold purchases are made from profits, not from customer reserves that back USDT. It holds that diversification into real assets strengthens long-term resilience.

Independent attestations: The verified gold breakdowns

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

• As of Sept. 30, 2025, gold and precious metals represent about 7% of Tether’s total consolidated reserves.

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

• XAUT has a market value of roughly $1.6 billion, which corresponds to less than 12 tons of gold.

• More than 100 tons of the reported gold is not tied to XAUT and forms part of Tether’s broader corporate reserves and investments.

How Tether compares with central banks

The WGC “Gold Demand Trends – Q3 2025” report shows that central banks globally added a net 220 tons of gold in Q3 2025. For context, this was 28% higher than the Q2 figure and 6% more than the five-year quarterly average.

In 2025, the price of gold rose about 50% year-to-date. Record-high prices likely constrained the scale of initial purchases. However, the renewed increase in central bank demand during the latest quarter indicates that these institutions are continuing to add gold strategically. They are doing so even in the face of significantly higher prices.

To help you compare Tether’s gold purchase in Q3 2025, here is information about similar activity by central banks:

• The National Bank of Kazakhstan was the most significant purchaser in the quarter, boosting its gold reserves by 18 tons to a total of 324 tons.

• The Central Bank of Brazil, making its first gold purchase since July 2021, reported a 15-ton rise in its gold reserves in September 2025, bringing its total gold holdings to 145 tons.

• The Central Bank of Turkey maintained its continuous gold accumulation, with its official central bank and Treasury gold reserves growing by seven tons in Q3 to 641 tons.

• The Bank of Guatemala increased its gold reserves by six tons during the quarter, a substantial 91% jump. The bank now holds a total of 13 tons of gold, accounting for 5% of its total reserves.

While making such comparisons, it is important to remember that central banks have different objectives when purchasing gold.

Central banks acquire gold as part of their national monetary strategy, whereas Tether holds gold as part of its corporate reserves. The acquired gold serves as collateral for its stablecoin and as an asset diversification tactic.

The rise of non-state gold buyers

Before the rise of non-state gold buyers like Tether, demand for gold was driven mainly by central banks, the jewelry sector and commodity investors. In recent years, however, a growing share of gold purchases has come from private institutions, sovereign wealth funds, stablecoin issuers and corporate treasuries.

This shift is being driven by geopolitical uncertainty and fluctuations in currency values. Stablecoin issuers, in particular, have become significant participants. They are acquiring gold in quantities once associated with medium-sized national central banks.

Major technology companies and investment funds are also adding gold to their portfolios as part of broader strategies.

The rapid expansion of non-state gold buyers makes them a noticeable part of overall gold demand. They now form a steadily growing segment that is reshaping the pattern of global gold demand.

What Tether’s gold buying does not indicate

To prevent any misunderstanding, it is important to be clear about what this gold accumulation does not mean:

• It does not indicate liquidity problems or a risk of insolvency. Independent attestations confirm the relationship between assets and liabilities. A private entity buying gold does not, on its own, indicate financial difficulty unless such concerns are disclosed by the entity.

• It does not signal upcoming gold price moves. Gold buying by a non-state actor does not imply any market forecast or directional view.

• It is not a monetary decision in the way central banks operate. Private companies manage their reserves under different objectives and rules, and their gold holdings serve corporate and operational purposes rather than national monetary policy.

This helps place Tether’s gold buying in its proper context and supports a better understanding of what the move represents.