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Tether, the $185 billion stablecoin issuer that reported $10 billion in net profit last year, has acquired a 12% stake in NYSE-listed Gold.com (GOLD) for $150 million — buying 3.371 million shares at $44.50 each to build what the companies describe as a vertically integrated gold ecosystem connecting its 140-tonne physical gold reserve and dominant XAU₮ token with Gold.com’s six-decade precious metals infrastructure.
Deal Structure
Tether will purchase approximately $125 million of Gold.com common shares immediately, with an additional $25 million following receipt of regulatory approvals. The $44.50 issue price represents an 11.9% discount to the ten-day volume-weighted average price as of the February 4 market close. Shares carry a 90-day resale restriction and standard registration rights. Tether gains the right to nominate one member to Gold.com’s board of directors.
The deal includes two additional commercial components: Gold.com will invest $20 million in Tether’s XAU₮ gold-backed stablecoin, and the parties plan to establish a gold leasing facility of at least $100 million. The companies are also exploring options to let customers purchase physical gold using USDT and USA₮, Tether’s newly launched federally regulated dollar-backed stablecoin, subject to regulatory and technical clearance.
Why Gold.com
Gold.com, based in Costa Mesa, California, is a fully integrated precious metals platform with over 60 years of operating history. The company acquired Monex — one of America’s largest bullion dealers — in early January 2026 and began trading on the NYSE under the GOLD ticker in December 2025, a listing that triggered a 57.9% share price jump on day one.
“Tether’s investment validates our strategy to be the vertically integrated leader in physical bullion,” CEO Greg Roberts said. “The investment builds upon Gold.com’s 60-plus year legacy and expands our reach beyond traditional bullion into digital gold and stablecoins.”
For Tether, the acquisition solves a distribution problem. XAU₮ dominates the tokenized gold market with over 50% share, but its user base has been almost entirely crypto-native. Gold.com provides a direct channel to traditional precious metals buyers who may be unfamiliar with blockchain-based assets but are open to digital innovation in how they purchase and hold gold.
140 Tonnes and Counting
Tether disclosed in January that it holds approximately 140 tonnes of physical gold, worth over $23 billion at current prices, making it one of the largest known private gold holders globally. Each XAU₮ token is backed one-to-one by allocated physical gold held in secure vaults, with every token linked to a specific London Good Delivery bar. The token is regulated under El Salvador’s Digital Asset Issuance Law and undergoes independent attestation.
“Gold exposure is not a trade for Tether,” CEO Paolo Ardoino said. “It is a hedge and a long-term allocation to protect our user base and ourselves in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable.”
Tether’s broader financial position underpins the scale of its gold ambitions. The company reported $10 billion in net profit for 2025, maintains excess reserves exceeding $6.3 billion, and has over $185 billion of USDT in circulation. Alongside the Gold.com deal, Tether announced an investment in Anchorage Digital, a US federally regulated crypto bank, to support the rollout of USA₮.
A Market That Nearly Tripled
The tokenized gold sector has surged from approximately $1.3 billion to over $5.5 billion in market capitalisation over the past twelve months, driven by gold prices breaking above $5,000 per ounce and rising demand from investors seeking hard-asset exposure with blockchain settlement speed. XAU₮ and its closest competitor Paxos Gold (PAXG) account for the vast majority of the market.
The timing reflects a broader shift in how institutional and retail investors approach gold. Physical delivery remains cumbersome — involving storage, insurance, authentication and multi-day settlement. Tokenised gold trades around the clock on crypto exchanges, settles in minutes, and can be divided into fractions, making sub-ounce gold positions accessible to smaller investors.
Building a Parallel System
Analysts at The Block noted the deal could precede Tether exploring tokenised versions of other precious metals — silver, platinum — using Gold.com’s supply chain and custody infrastructure. The investment fits a pattern: Tether has expanded from a single stablecoin product into bitcoin mining, artificial intelligence, decentralised communications, and now physical commodities, constructing what observers describe as a parallel financial system anchored by USDT’s liquidity and network effects.
Juan Sartori, Tether’s Head of Special Projects, framed the deal as convergence. “By integrating Gold.com’s physical gold sourcing, custody and logistics capabilities with Tether’s digital asset infrastructure, we are strengthening XAU₮’s transparency, scalability and its ability to move seamlessly between physical and digital worlds.”
Sources: CryptoSlate, Economic Times
