Tether Transforms into Sovereign Wealth Fund with $23B Gold Reserves
Tether has evolved from simply issuing digital dollars to become something akin to a sovereign wealth fund. According to CEO Paolo Ardoino, the company is building reserves of Bitcoin and physical gold while distributing dollars globally.
The company has been quietly amassing enormous reserves of gold, buying between 1 and 2 tons every week. This amounts to approximately 140 tons of gold valued at $23-24B, which represents around 10-15% of its investment portfolio.
Tether's core operations have generated an estimated $10-13.7B in profits across 2024 and 2025, with expectations for 2026 running even higher. These profits fund the gold purchases, not by minting more USDT, but rather through yield on the reserves backing it.
The company has also been allocating up to 15% of its realized operating profits to Bitcoin since May 2023, building a position worth north of $8B at current prices. Ardoino views Bitcoin as a 'digital inflation hedge' and a crucial defense against what he calls an 'apocalyptic future.'