“Jefferies said that stablecoin giant Tether has quietly become one of the gold market’s most influential new buyers.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
Attestation data and on-chain activity show that the stablecoin issuer has accumulated substantial bullion in recent months, tightening supply and helping fuel the sharp rally, the bank said in the Thursday report.
The precious metal has risen more than 50% this year and is currently trading around $4,080 per ounce.
Jefferies first flagged Tether’s interest after the company met with miners and royalty firms in Denver last fall, with investors telling the bank Tether aimed to buy around 100 tons this year. Public comments from CEO Paolo Ardoino about adding gold to reserves and a $1,000-per-ounce price spike strengthened the case.
Analysts led by Andrew Moss estimated that Tether held at least 116 tons of gold at the end of the third quarter, with 12 tons backing its XAUt token (worth about $1.57 billion) and about 104 tons backing USDT (worth about $13.67 billion), making it the world’s largest non-sovereign holder and placing it on par with smaller central banks. XAUt currently stands at a market capitalization of about $1.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The pace of accumulation is what stands out — roughly 26 tons in the third quarter alone, equal to about 2% of global demand, the analysts said. While not enough to overwhelm central-bank flows, the buying likely tightened near-term supply and boosted bullish sentiment.
Tether is expected to continue accumulating as USDT grows and gold remains about 7% of reserves, the report said. With Ardoino projecting $15 billion in 2025 profit, the bank’s analysts calculated that even deploying half of that into bullion could add nearly 60 tons annually.
Tether’s planned GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin, USAT, won’t require gold reserves, leaving its long-term impact on USDT and gold demand uncertain, the report noted.
The analysts also cited Tether’s growing investments across the gold ecosystem, including more than $300 million deployed into royalties and streaming companies this year. The bank views these stakes as further evidence of a broader metals strategy. The recent hiring of two top HSBC metals traders suggests that Tether’s gold push is accelerating rather than easing.
Read more: Gold Token Market Swells to $3.9B as CZ Calls It a ‘Trust Me Bro’ Asset
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence’s Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025, with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch, the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B, while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
View Full Report
VanEck says bitcoin’s downturn is being driven by mid-cycle wallets while the oldest holders keep accumulating, with futures data showing washed-out market conditions.
- Asset manager VanEck says mid-cycle holders who last moved coins within five years are driving bitcoin’s latest sell-off.
- The firm says long-term holders remain steady while open interest and funding levels point to reset futures positioning.
- Other analysts cite OG selling, October deleveraging and offshore trading volatility as additional pressures on bitcoin.
Read full story