Tether Gold's vault hits record $3.44B as holders add 9 tonnes

Tether Gold just showed off a bigger vault. The physical gold backing the XAU₮ token reached a record US$3.44 billion as of 30 September 2026, per the quarterly reserves disclosure from TG Commodities, S.A. de C.V. Token holders added more than 9 tonnes of physical gold equivalent since January, pushing customer holdings up 73% since the start of the year.

The reserves grew 59% over 2026, climbing to 827,418 fine troy ounces — about 25.7 tonnes — from 520,089 fine troy ounces (16.2 tonnes) on 31 December 2025. That means 766 new London Good Delivery bars landed in Switzerland, lifting the total from 1,291 to 2,057. The market value of the stash jumped 53%, now at US$3.44 billion versus US$2.25 billion at year-end.

The inventory breaks down into 2,057 bars in the 12.5-kilogram category, plus 15 one-kilogram bars and 18 half-kilogram bars. At quarter end, the fair market value of gold held by the Custodian for tokens already sold stood at US$2,948,949,277, with another US$490,965,052 backing tokens available for sale. Every token represents an undivided ownership interest in gold on specified bars, and the metal can be redeemed as physical gold.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino framed the growth as a durability story. In a statement, he said that for thousands of years owning gold meant trusting someone else to hold it, and that XAU₮ ties every token to real, verifiable bars. He also pointed to a World Gold Council estimate that digital gold could unlock US$700 billion in demand, adding that he expects XAU₮ to capture a large share of it.

The issuance runs through TG Commodities, an El Salvador Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable registered as a Stablecoin Issuer and Digital Asset Service Provider under the country's Digital Asset Issuance Law. The gold sits in Swiss vaults and meets London Good Delivery standards, with a qualified independent third party testing a sample of bars each quarter to verify what the refineries report. One full XAU₮ equals one troy fine ounce of gold on a London Good Delivery bar.