The world's largest private gold holder is quietly assembling a balance sheet that would not look out of place at a major financial institution, spanning both hard assets and U.S. government debt.
Tether is best known as the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, USDT. But now sits at the intersection of two traditional safe havens, gold and U.S. Treasuries, that too at a scale which is starting to register in global capital markets.
Related: Explained: What is a stablecoin?
Tether's balance sheet rivals financial institutions
Tether is no longer just a crypto liquidity provider. It is now one of the largest private holders of both gold and U.S. government debt, placing it in territory traditionally occupied by banks, asset managers and sovereign institutions.
Tether has accumulated roughly 80 to 116 metric tons of gold across its reserves and tokenized gold product, XAUT, making it the largest private-sector gold holder globally. The company added about 27 tons in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, as gold prices surged amid geopolitical uncertainty and persistent inflation concerns.
Gold sits alongside a rapidly expanding Treasury portfolio.
In its latest attestation posted on Jan. 30th, prepared by accounting firm BDO, Tether reported more than $122 billion in direct U.S. Treasury holdings, with total Treasury exposure exceeding $141 billion when including overnight reverse repurchase agreements.
That level places the stablecoin issuer among the largest non-sovereign holders of U.S. government debt worldwide.
Together, the assets reflect a reserve strategy that increasingly resembles that of a large financial institution rather than a crypto-native startup.
Related: Gold and silver crash puts crypto back in focus
Stablecoin growth drives Treasury demand
The driver behind that expansion is the explosive growth of USDT. Tether issued nearly $50 billion in new tokens during 2025, pushing total circulation above $186 billion, as demand for dollar liquidity surged across emerging markets, payments and digital asset trading.
The structure is simple but powerful.
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Dollars deposited to mint USDT are invested primarily in short-term U.S. Treasuries and similar highly liquid assets. The yield generated on those holdings flows to Tether, while the underlying assets remain available to meet redemptions.
At today's scale, that model has turned Tether into a significant buyer of Treasury bills, particularly at the short end of the yield curve.
Policy and systemic risk
The rise of stablecoin issuers as major holders of Treasury debt is drawing increasing scrutiny from policymakers.
Research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City warns that while stablecoins can increase demand for Treasuries, they may do so by draining funds from bank deposits.
Unlike banks, stablecoin issuers are not permitted to lend directly to the economy, raising concerns that large-scale shifts into digital dollars could reduce overall credit availability.
Regulatory frameworks are beginning to formalize this trade-off. New U.S. legislation, including the GENIUS Act , effectively channels stablecoin reserves toward Treasuries and other government-backed assets, cementing issuers' role as private-sector buyers of sovereign debt.
For now, stablecoin issuers remain small relative to the $26-trillion Treasury market. But with major banks projecting that stablecoins could grow into the trillions of dollars over the next decade, Tether's balance sheet signals that Crypto-native firms are slowly becoming part of the financial system's funding base.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
