Tether meets mining and investment groups about gold investments

Tether is holding talks across the gold sector – from royalties to mining and refining – to deploy part of its crypto profits. The stablecoin issuer already holds $8.7B in bullion and took a $105M stake in Elemental Altus in June.

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has been meeting mining and investment groups about putting money into gold. The conversations span the supply chain – mining, refining, trading, and royalty companies.

For crypto observers, this offers a rare glimpse into how a stablecoin business might deploy yield from reserves into real‑world assets.

The company reported $5.7B in profit for H1 2025 and operates USDT with a market cap approaching $168B. It is a major holder of U.S. Treasuries, earning interest on the bills backing the token. Tether also holds about $8.7B in gold bars stored in Zurich, which it uses as collateral, and operates XAUt, a gold‑backed token with roughly $880M market cap.

In June 2025, Tether Investments bought a $105M minority stake in Toronto‑listed Elemental Altus, a gold‑royalty company. People familiar with the talks say Tether has discussed further royalty deals – potentially including more capital for Elemental Altus – and has approached other royalty players. The company also explored an opportunity with Terranova Resources (BVI), though those discussions did not produce a deal.

Reception in the gold world is mixed. Some executives welcome fresh capital; others question whether Tether has a coherent strategy.

They like gold. I don’t think they have a strategy,

said one mining executive in comments to the Financial Times.

CEO Paolo Ardoino has long praised the metal:

I know people think bitcoin is ‘digital gold’. I prefer to think in bitcoin terms – I think gold is our source of nature.

For a stablecoin issuer, moving profits into commodities would blur the line between crypto finance and traditional resource assets. If Tether scales its royalty stakes or upstream deals, it could boost liquidity in gold projects while diversifying the backing mix behind its tokens.

Executives in gold mining and commodity trading, quoted by the Financial Times, point to execution risk, disclosures and governance in a sector that tends to be conservative.