Tether and crypto miner lender Antalpha are seeking to raise at least $200 million for a new digital asset treasury vehicle focused on tokenized gold, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Key Takeaways:
- Tether and Antalpha are raising $200 million to build a tokenized gold treasury centered on XAUt.
- The initiative deepens their partnership as gold demand climbs and tokenized commodities gain traction.
- Tether continues expanding beyond stablecoins with strategic bets in mining, AI, and tokenized assets.
The effort aims to stockpile XAUt, Tether’s blockchain-based gold token, backed by physical bars stored in a Swiss vault.
If successful, the capital raise would strengthen ties between two of the digital asset industry’s most prominent players.
Tether, Antalpha Join Forces Amid Crypto-Mining and Stablecoin Dominance
Tether is the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market cap, while Antalpha is closely tied to Chinese mining giant Bitmain, which produces over 80% of global Bitcoin mining hardware.
XAUt, launched by a Tether subsidiary in 2020, has grown to a market cap of nearly $1.5 billion. The planned vehicle would act as a publicly visible treasury focused solely on accumulating this asset.
It follows an expanded partnership between Tether and Antalpha announced last week, which introduced new services such as XAUt-backed lending, custody, and token redemption.
Antalpha said it plans to open vaults in global financial hubs, allowing token holders to redeem their digital assets for physical gold.
Tether has been pushing far beyond stablecoins in recent years, with investments in Bitcoin mining, AI, payments infrastructure, and tokenized assets.
Its CEO, Paolo Ardoino, is a strong advocate of gold as a store of value, and the company held $8.7 billion worth of gold on its balance sheet as of June.
At the same time, Tether is reportedly seeking to raise $20 billion in a separate effort to scale its core USDT operations, a deal that would value the company near $500 billion.
The gold-backed initiative arrives as demand for gold surges. Global gold investment is up 46% this year amid geopolitical tension and inflation fears, according to Bloomberg.
XAUt’s market cap has doubled in that time, per CoinGecko data.
More than 80 digital asset treasury firms have been formed in 2025, many using reverse mergers or SPAC structures to mimic Strategy Inc.’s public Bitcoin bet.
Tether Rejects IPO Route Even as Circle’s Stock Soars
Tether’s focus on gold comes as competition heats up. Circle, which went public in June, has seen its stock surge over 500% since its debut. Tether, however, has no plans to follow suit.
“In general we are not interested in becoming a public company,” Ardoino said in July.
The new legislation appears to be opening doors that were previously shut. Ardoino, along with other crypto executives, attended the White House bill signing.
The law could, for the first time, help normalize stablecoin usage, both in crypto trading and across mainstream financial infrastructure.
Tether has long been under fire for a lack of transparency, particularly regarding its reserves. Audits, promised for years, have yet to materialize.
However, Ardoino said the company has been in contact with auditing firms in recent weeks.
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