Tether, the issuer of world's largest stablecoin, USDT, has eyed investing in gold mining, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The firm has held discussions with mining groups about putting money into the gold supply chain, including refining, trading and royalties, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the talks. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino referred to the precious metal as "bitcoin in nature," in a speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in May. One commodity industry executive referred to Tether as the "weirdest company I have ever dealt with," according to the report. Tether already holds $8.7 billion in gold bars in a Zurich vault, according to its financial statements, and in June this year paid $89.2 million for a minority stake in Elemental Altus (ELE), a publicly traded precious-metals investment company. The company also offers Tether Gold (XAUT), a stablecoin in which each token is equivalent to the value of one troy ounce of physical gold. Gold rose to an all-time high of over $3,550 per ounce this week, having nearly doubled in price in the last two years. Given its reputation as a haven amid geopolitical tensions, gold remains a natural investment of interest for crypto-native investors, many of whom buy bitcoin and other digital assets for similar reasons. Tether did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.