Tether · CryptoSlate
Tether’s $20 billion mountain of gold, equal to a national reserve, to be used for lending
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Tether is already the world's largest stablecoin issuer, with approximately $141 billion in direct and indirect exposure to US Treasuries.
Key facts
- Tether's counterargument was that its $8.23 billion in excess reserves and the roughly $15 billion in 2025 profit estimated by CEO Paolo Ardoino provide a buffer against price volatility before it
- In February 2026, S&P assigned a BBB- investment-grade rating to the senior notes issued through Ledn's inaugural $188 million Bitcoin-backed asset-backed securitization
- About 132 of those 154 tons are held in USDT reserves, data as of the end of March 2026
- Tether announced a Big Four audit in March 2026, but it hasn't been completed as of publication; final results are expected by April 2027
Summary
01 Tether and Ledn will let users borrow stablecoins against XAUT, turning tokenized gold into lending collateral. 02 The move gives retail holders gold liquidity without selling, while extending Tether's bullion beyond reserves and into credit. 03 The test now is whether borrowers want gold-backed loans, amid unresolved collateral thresholds, regulation, and liquidation risk. Over the past year, though, it has added a second identity: one of the world's biggest private holders of physical gold, with roughly 154 metric tons of bullion spread across reserves backing both USDT and its tokenized gold product, XAUT.