Tether Reportedly Holding $8B in Gold in Secret Swiss Vault

Tether Holdings SA, the issuer of the $159 billion USDT stablecoin, has secretly constructed and now operates its own high-security vault in Switzerland to store a massive $8 billion worth of gold.

This revelation, reported by Bloomberg, positions Tether among the largest non-bank and non-state gold holders, with nearly 80 metric tons of the precious metal.

Tether’s Fort Knox

Tether CEO Paulo Ardoino confirmed the existence of the company-owned facility, telling Bloomberg it is “the most secure vault in the world.”

While he didn’t disclose its exact location within Switzerland for security reasons, the installation represents a significant operational shift. The executive stated the decision to build the vault was driven by cost efficiency, particularly as the company eyes substantial growth for its gold-backed token, XAUT.

“If Tether’s gold token was to grow to $100 billion in circulation… If you have your own vault, eventually with the size, it gets much cheaper to do custody,” he explained.

While USDT is primarily backed by U.S. Treasuries, about 5% of its reserves consist of precious metals, including the $8 billion gold stash. According to analysts, this may put the stablecoin at odds with proposed regulatory frameworks, including the GENIUS Act, recently passed in the U.S. Senate, which mandates that stablecoins be backed by cash and cash equivalent assets such as short-term government bonds.

In Ardoino’s view, “Gold should be logically a safer asset than any national currency.” However, should such rules become law, their asset restrictions would directly challenge Tether’s diversification into the safe-haven metal, whose price has rallied 25% this year amid geopolitical tensions and strong institutional demand. As such, the company may be forced to divest its holdings or risk being excluded from regulated markets in Europe and the United States.

Booming Stablecoin Market

The stablecoin issuer’s gold strategy comes at a time when fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies are experiencing tremendous growth. Last month, total supply hit the $250 billion mark for the first time.

At the time of this writing, the stablecoins had a collective market value of $255.3 billion, having added an extra $1.871 billion in the last seven days, according to data from DeFiLlama. USDT makes up more than 62% of that amount, with its closest rival, Circle’s USDC, taking up about 24%, leaving 267 others to split the remaining 14% among themselves.