From FT6 Sep 2025 10:09
«Tether, the world’s biggest stablecoin company, has held talks about investing in gold mining, seeking to deploy its vast crypto profits into bullion.
The company has held discussions with mining and investment groups about investing in the entire gold supply chain, from mining and refining to trading and royalty companies, according to four people familiar with the recent talks.
While gold has been a physical store of value for thousands of years and bitcoin has only existed as a digital instrument since 2009, there is a growing affinity between some industry executives.
Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino has likened gold to “natural bitcoin”. “I know people think that bitcoin is ‘digital gold’,” he said in a speech in May. “I prefer to think in bitcoin terms — I think gold is our source of nature.”
However, within the conservative gold mining sector, Tether’s interest has been greeted with surprise — and questions about whether the unconventional newcomer will succeed. “They like gold. I don’t think they have a strategy,” said one mining executive.
Others are sceptical. “It is the weirdest company I have ever dealt with,” said one commodity industry executive.
One of the world’s most profitable crypto companies, Tether runs the USDT token, which is pegged to the US dollar and has a market capitalisation of $168bn, and generated profits of $5.7bn in the first half of this year. Tether is also one of the biggest holders of US Treasuries, making its money from the interest it earns on the bills it holds to back the token — the world’s most traded cryptocurrency.
Tether has also built a significant position in commodity trade finance, providing short-term finance for cargoes of raw materials, with a trading book that has grown into the billions, according to industry insiders.
Tether did not respond to requests for comment on its gold strategy.
Other companies are also starting to try to bridge the gap between digital currencies and gold.
Blue Gold, a Nasdaq-listed company with a Ghanaian mine whose licence is contested, is planning to launch digital tokens for its future output, said chief executive Andrew Cavaghan.
“I believe a gold-backed token could really take off globally as a form of currency, because people can really feel how real it is — because they can convert it into stuff, or they can convert it into gold,” he said. «
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