Tether Accumulates Bullion While Coinbase Highlights Futures as Gold Soars Past $5,300
As Bitcoin underperforms and gold surpasses $5,300 per ounce, Tether grows physical gold reserves to 130 metric tons while Coinbase emphasizes futures trading opportunities.
With gold prices reaching $5,300 this week, two firms responsible for the globe's most prominent US dollar stablecoins — Tether and Coinbase — are pursuing divergent strategies for exposure to the yellow metal.
Gold in spot markets rose beyond $5,300 per ounce on Wednesday, reaching an all-time peak of $5,311 at 3:30 am UTC, based on data from TradingView.
These differing approaches highlight how cryptocurrency firms are adapting their positions as the precious metal experiences a boom while Bitcoin (BTC) remains sluggish, hovering under $90,000, as reported by CoinGecko.
Tether hoards 130 tons of gold, aiming to become a "gold central bank"
The stablecoin issuer Tether, which also provides the gold-pegged stablecoin XAUt (XAUT), has been building up gold within its reserves over an extended period, disclosing $12 billion in exposure as of September 2025.
The firm maintains 520,089 troy ounces of gold for XAUT — approximately 16.2 metric tons — held separately from a larger stockpile of 130 metric tons, valued at roughly $22 billion based on prevailing market rates.
Tether maintains approximately 130 metric tons of physical gold, and the gold backing every XAUT token is held separately, making it eligible for physical delivery redemption.
Tether spokesperson
With such substantial gold holdings, Tether now ranks alongside central banks of nations including Mexico, South Africa and Sweden, based on reserve figures published by the World Gold Council.
We are soon becoming basically one of the biggest, let's say, gold central banks in the world.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, in an interview with Bloomberg
Coinbase highlights gold futures trading amid bullion rally
In contrast, Coinbase has been promoting its commodity futures products as the precious metal experiences a surge, notifying users that the exchange facilitates trading across several metals, encompassing gold and silver.
You can trade precious metals on Coinbase. Silver, gold, copper and platinum futures are available on Coinbase.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, in an X post
Industry observers pointed out that futures contracts do not provide physical delivery options, with some characterizing the announcement as a "top signal" for market participants, potentially suggesting the market could be reaching its zenith.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange by reported trading volumes, Binance, similarly introduced perpetual futures contracts linked to gold and silver at the beginning of January.
Following this recent price increase, spot gold has risen 90% over the past year, whereas Bitcoin has declined 13%, and was changing hands at $89,351 at the time of writing.
The US dollar index has fallen approximately 10.7% during the same timeframe, further strengthening gold's attractiveness as a safe haven asset.