Tether Holdings SA launched two senior valuable metals merchants it recruited from HSBC Holdings Plc simply months in the past.
The departures mark a sudden reversal for the stablecoin issuer, which had framed the hires as central to its ambitions within the world bullion market.
Why the Hires Mattered
Vincent Domien, HSBC’s former world head of metals buying and selling and a board member of the London Bullion Market Affiliation (LBMA), joined Tether in late 2025.
JUST IN: Tether hires senior HSBC metals merchants to develop its gold operations.
The transfer mirrors central banks shifting from USD to gold.
— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) November 12, 2025
Mathew O’Neill, who oversaw valuable metals origination throughout Europe, the Center East, and Africa on the financial institution, adopted him.
Each had been recruited as a part of CEO Paolo Ardoino’s plan to compete immediately with banks like JPMorgan and HSBC in bullion buying and selling.
Ardoino had beforehand advised Bloomberg the corporate wanted to construct the very best gold buying and selling ground on the earth.
Tether has gathered roughly 140 tons of bodily gold, saved in a former Chilly Battle nuclear bunker in Switzerland.
That hoard is valued at roughly $24 billion, making the agency one of many largest recognized holders of bullion exterior central banks, exchange-traded funds and business banks.
A Crypto Agency in a Commodities World
The fast turnaround raises questions on how easily a crypto-native firm can combine conventional commodities expertise.
Tether purchased over 70 tons of gold final 12 months, outpacing practically each central financial institution besides Poland. The corporate had additionally signaled it might actively commerce its reserves to seize arbitrage between futures and bodily costs.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino says the agency plans to park roughly 10–15% of its portfolio in gold. pic.twitter.com/iyzguj9PyL
— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) January 28, 2026
Nonetheless, the bodily gold market operates on long-standing relationships between banks, refiners, miners and sellers.
Bridging the hole between crypto treasury administration and institutional bullion buying and selling has confirmed tough.
Tether has not publicly defined the rationale for the departures. Neither Domien nor O’Neill has commented.
The corporate continues to carry substantial gold reserves and points Tether Gold (XAUT), which accounts for roughly 60% of the gold-backed stablecoin market.
Whether or not Tether replaces the merchants or restructures its gold desk solely might sign how dedicated the agency stays to Ardoino’s imaginative and prescient of rivaling sovereign-scale gold holders.
