Tether Shocks Markets: Poaches HSBC’s Top Metals Traders to Dominate Global Gold

Tether just fired a cannonball across traditional finance's bow—snagging HSBC's best metals traders to turbocharge its gold market ambitions.

When a stablecoin giant starts playing bullion games, you know the old guard should be sweating. These hires aren't just talent grabs—they're declarations of war against legacy commodity markets.

Gold's about to get crypto-fied. And judging by Wall Street's track record, they'll complain about 'disruption' while quietly copying Tether's playbook next quarter.

Tether builds one of the largest private gold reserves

Over the past few years, Tether has been gathering physical gold at a pace that stands out even among major financial institutions.

It currently holds more than $180 billion in reserves, and part of that includes what is now one of the largest privately held gold reserves in the world outside of central banks and governments.

As of September, the company held over $12 billion in gold and had been adding more than a TON per week during the year through September. That does not include the gold connected to its own gold-linked token.

The company also issues Tether Gold, or XAUT, which is backed directly by gold bars. Around $2 billion worth of those tokens are in circulation, supported by about 1,300 bars stored in secure vaults.

Each bar has a serial number, and its weight is documented. This means the company is active not only in owning bullion but also in providing a way for holders to access it on-chain without dealing with physical storage.

HSBC faces a gap as gold demand strengthens

HSBC is one of the biggest names in precious metals trading, handling futures, vaulting and physical movement of bullion around the globe. Losing Vincent and Mathew is a setback for the bank at a moment when demand for skilled gold traders is rising.

Banks, hedge funds and commodity houses have all been expanding metals teams this year because gold has been on track for one of its strongest yearly performances since 1979.

Prices have reached repeated highs, driven by demand from central banks, fast-moving trading flows and what some refer to as the “debasement trade,” where investors move out of government bonds and currencies over concerns about long-term value erosion.

Tether’s reserves generated $13 billion in profit last year and are on pace for around $15 billion this year. Higher yields and the rising value of gold contributed to those results.

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