Discussions reportedly covered the entire supply chain of the precious metal — from extraction and processing to trading and royalty agreements.
Within the traditionally cautious gold sector, Tether’s plans were met with a mix of surprise and doubt.
“They like gold. I’m not sure they actually have a strategy,” one mining executive remarked.
Sources also noted that Tether explored opportunities with Terranova Resources, but those talks ended without an agreement.
“It’s the strangest company I’ve ever dealt with,” another commodities insider commented.
Earlier in June, Tether Investments, an affiliate of the company, purchased a 31.9% stake in gold miner Elemental Altus Royalties.
A month later, Bloomberg reported that Tether was holding roughly $8 billion worth of gold in a private vault in Switzerland. In that same period, the firm disclosed that nearly 250,000 gold-backed stablecoins (XAUT) were in circulation at the end of Q2.