Tether plans to increase gold holdings by hundreds of tons within the year. Can this drive gold prices to new highs?

Latest news shows that Tether is becoming a significant force in disrupting the global gold market. Investment bank Jefferies’ latest analysis points out that behind the recent strong rise in gold prices, Tether’s large-scale deployment has played a crucial role. On-chain data verifies this — Tether has been continuously purchasing gold over the past few months, leading to a gradual tightening of the market gold supply.

According to disclosed investor information, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has outlined an ambitious plan: to increase gold holdings by approximately 100 tons within this year. More notably, Paolo Ardoino expressed optimism about the gold price outlook, predicting that gold could rise to $1,000 per ounce.

Specifically, by the end of the third quarter, Tether’s gold reserves had reached about 116 tons. Of these, 12 tons of gold back the XAUt token, while 104 tons support the issuance of USDT stablecoin. It is worth noting that Tether increased its gold holdings by about 26 tons in the third quarter alone, accounting for 2% of the global gold demand during the same period.

Jefferies’ analysis team believes that Tether’s massive accumulation of gold is changing the global gold supply and demand landscape. This stablecoin giant, by increasing its reserves, is effectively influencing market expectations and driving up gold prices. As Tether further expands its gold holdings, market expectations for continued gold price increases are also strengthening.