The rise in gold price and the redistribution of financial flows in the crypto industry increasingly demonstrate that the structure of the digital asset market and investors’ attitudes to risk are changing. In this context, the example of Tether Holdings, the issuer of the largest USDT stablecoin, is indicative: it acquired about 27 tons of gold in the fourth quarter of last year, almost matching the volume of purchases in the previous quarter. Thus, the company has become one of the notable sources of demand for precious metal, which has risen in price by 18% since the beginning of the year and by 64% since 2025, consistently breaking the $3,000, $4,000, and $5,000 per ounce thresholds.
These shifts are also clearly visible on the crypto heatmap, where neutral and defensive shades have increasingly prevailed in recent months, reflecting the flow of capital from high-risk altcoins to stablecoins and a limited set of the most liquid assets. During periods of gold price growth and increased demand for defensive instruments, asynchronous dynamics are observed. While part of the market is moving into the red zone, the segment associated with stablecoins and infrastructure tokens is showing relative stability. This highlights that investors increasingly view the crypto market not as a single whole but as a set of diverse financial niches with varying levels of risk.
Tether’s active gold purchases fit into a broader macroeconomic context. Investors and central banks, amid geopolitical tensions and growing distrust of risky assets, are increasing their allocation to defensive instruments, and the crypto industry is increasingly adopting elements of the traditional financial system. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, the scale of the company’s gold operations is already comparable to that of sovereign entities, underscoring the transformation of stablecoins from purely digital instruments into hybrid financial products backed by traditional reserves. At the same time, despite significant volumes, estimated to be the equivalent of more than 100 tons of gold in USDT reserves, the share of precious metals still plays a secondary role compared to investments in US Treasury bonds.
However, the strengthening of the physical reserves is occurring amid rising structural risks in the crypto market. The year 2025 was a record year for the revenue of cryptocurrency scammers, about $17 billion, which is a third more than the year before. The massive introduction of artificial intelligence enabled attackers to dramatically increase the effectiveness of their attacks: deepfakes, phishing, and emotional pressure schemes multiplied the average damage to victims. This increase in criminal activity undermines retail investors’ confidence and intensifies regulatory pressure, thereby altering investor behavior and trading patterns.
In light of this, the position of key infrastructure players is also weakening. Binance, which until recently controlled up to 60% of the global spot market, reduced its share to 25% and, in the derivatives segment, from 70% to 35%. Traders are increasingly switching either to offshore platforms such as Bybit and HTX, or to decentralized and on-chain platforms that fundamentally change trading mechanics. For institutional investors, over-the-counter transactions are playing an increasingly important role, reducing the role of traditional centralized exchanges as a single point of liquidity.
As a result, the market is entering a phase of mature segmentation. On the one hand, stablecoins and large players like Tether, which strengthen trust through gold and other defensive assets, on the other hand, fragmented trading infrastructure and the growth of opaque risks associated with fraud and technological vulnerabilities. Financial logic is increasingly gaining the upper hand over the ideology of decentralization, as capital seeks stability rather than maximum risk. This explains the simultaneous growth in interest in gold, the redistribution of trading volumes, and the gradual departure of the crypto market from the previous model of the unconditional dominance of individual platforms.