Tether’s gold reserves reached $23 billion as of February 9, 2026, with holdings of roughly 148 tonnes, according to a Jefferies report cited in the source material. That puts the stablecoin issuer among the world’s top 30 gold holders and above several nation states, including Australia, South Korea, and the UAE.
Heavy buying at the end of 2025 pushed holdings higher
The report says Tether bought 26 tonnes of physical gold at the end of 2025, then added another 6 tonnes in January 2026. The article describes that pace as highly unusual for a private company, with only Poland and Brazil buying more over the same recent period. Tether stores the bullion in a dedicated Swiss vault, described in the article as a former nuclear bunker built for high-security storage.
The company’s use of physical gold is presented as a hard-asset base for its token ecosystem. Most of the bullion is said to support the broader USDT system, while also backing XAUT, Tether’s token linked to physical gold. The article adds that demand for XAUT increased in emerging markets after gold prices rose above $5,000 per ounce this year, as buyers looked for protection against inflation.
Holdings now exceed those of several countries
The comparison table in the source lists Poland’s central bank at about 460 tonnes, Tether at 148 tonnes, Australia at roughly 80 tonnes, and South Korea at around 70 tonnes. On that basis, Tether has moved ahead of a number of sovereign holders. The article also says the firm recently hired traders from HSBC to run its gold desk.
CEO Paolo Ardoino said the goal is to turn Tether into a “yellow metal central bank.” The company plans to keep 10% to 15% of its total funds in physical bullion, according to the source. It also recently made a $150 million strategic investment in Gold.com to expand access to tokenized and physical gold.
Source frames the move as a broader shift in private balance-sheet power
The article argues that Tether’s rise into the top 30 marks a change in how large private firms build reserves, with balance sheets that can rival those of sovereign states. It also points to the combination of gold’s defensive role and blockchain-based transferability as a factor behind market demand. The remaining question raised in the piece is how regulators may respond to a private company holding financial resources on a scale usually associated with a mid-sized country.