Tether Moves to Purchase $200 Million Worth of Its Own Altcoin on the Market

Stablecoin market leader Tether has sought capital for a new venture with Antalpha Platform Holding, which has close ties to Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain Technologies Ltd.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the parties are in talks to raise at least $200 million. This funding will be used to stock Tether's tokenized gold product, XAUt.

Tether issues USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, while Beijing-based Bitmain supplies about 82% of global cryptocurrency mining hardware. Antalpha is a financial services company that works closely with Bitmain.

Cohen & Co. is advising on the deal. However, Tether, Antalpha, and Cohen did not comment to the press, with Tether only highlighting a post recalling the collaboration with Antalpha.

Tether and Antalpha are already working together on Tether Gold (XAUt). Launched in 2020, the product consists of digital tokens backed by physical gold and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $1.5 billion. Last month, Antalpha announced that it was expanding its partnership with Tether and would establish physical gold vaults in major financial centers around the world, in addition to offering collateralized lending services to XAUt holders.

Demand for gold has surged by a record 46% this year, driven by global uncertainty and inflation concerns, according to Bloomberg data. This surge has also doubled interest in Tether's gold token.

Tether, meanwhile, has previously floated plans to raise up to $20 billion in capital for its core stablecoin operations. This initiative could bring the company's valuation to around $500 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable private companies.