Tether now holds ~116 tonnes of physical gold, worth about $14 billion, making it the largest non-central bank holder of gold globally on par with countries like South Korea and Hungary. In Q3 alone, Tether bought 26 tonnes, more than any central bank during the same period. This accounted for ~2% of global gold demand and 12% of central bank purchases. Tether earns billions from U.S. Treasuries backing USDT, but that exposes it to regulatory risk. If the U.S. restricts offshore stablecoins, those reserves could be frozen. Gold is a hard asset outside the Western banking system, immune to sanctions. Tether is acting like a stateless central bank, creating a reserve system of Treasuries, Bitcoin, and gold. CEO Paolo Ardoino calls gold “natural Bitcoin” and plans to keep adding bullion as USDT grows.