Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin (USDT), is working with crypto miner financing firm Antalpha to raise at least $200 million for a new digital asset treasury for tokenized gold, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The planned vehicle would stockpile Tether Gold (XAUT), a blockchain-based token backed by physical gold bars under custody in a Swiss vault. XAUT is the largest tokenized gold offering on the market with nearly $1.5 billion market capitalization.
Antalpha is known as a key lender of Chinese crypto mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain, and offers supply chain and margin loans.
The report follows an expanded partnership between Tether and Antalpha, announced on Monday, to launch a dedicated hub for XAUT-backed lending, custody and token redemption services. Antalpha said then it plans to work with partners to open vaults in major financial hubs, allowing users to redeem digital tokens for physical gold.
Tether has expanded beyond issuing its flagship USDT token, the largest stablecoin boasting a $174 billion supply, with investments spanning across bitcoin (BTC) mining, payments, energy and artificial intelligence (AI). It was a lead investor, alongside Bitfinex, with which it shares key executives and ownership, and SoftBank, in bitcoin treasury firm XXI Capital that launched earlier this year. Tether also reportedly seeks to raise funds at a $500 billion valuation to fuel its expansion.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, has been a vocal proponent of gold as a hard asset, The company held $8.7 billion in the yellow metal on its balance sheet, according to its June attestation.