Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has made a significant move into the gold market by acquiring a $150 million minority stake in Gold.com. The investment, announced in a recent company blog post, gives Tether a 12% ownership position in the gold-focused platform and reinforces its long-term strategy of offering stability-focused assets during periods of global financial uncertainty.
Gold.com provides users with access to both physical gold and tokenized gold products, aligning closely with Tether’s existing offerings. As part of the partnership, Tether will integrate its gold-backed token XAUT into Gold.com’s infrastructure, expanding the token’s real-world utility and accessibility. XAUT is backed one-to-one by physical gold stored in secure Swiss vaults and currently represents more than 60% of the total tokenized gold market.
The collaboration will also explore enabling customers to purchase physical gold using Tether’s U.S. dollar stablecoin USDT, as well as its newly launched U.S.-regulated stablecoin, USAT. This move could further bridge traditional commodities with digital assets, making gold more accessible to crypto-native investors.
The announcement comes amid a strong rally in gold prices, with the precious metal surpassing $5,000 per ounce last week. At the same time, the blockchain-based gold token market has expanded rapidly, growing from approximately $1.3 billion to over $5.5 billion in market value. Investor interest has been fueled by ongoing geopolitical tensions, inflation concerns, and broader market volatility.
Following the news, Gold.com’s publicly traded shares rose 6% in after-hours trading, signaling positive market reception. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that gold exposure is a strategic hedge rather than a short-term trade, highlighting its historical role as a store of value during times of monetary stress.
Earlier the same day, Tether also revealed an investment in Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated U.S. crypto bank and a key partner in the rollout of USAT. Together, these moves underscore Tether’s broader push to diversify its ecosystem and strengthen trust through regulated, asset-backed offerings.
