Tether Holdings SA released two senior precious metals traders it recruited from HSBC Holdings Plc just months ago.
The departures mark a sudden reversal for the stablecoin issuer, which had framed the hires as central to its ambitions in the global bullion market.
Why the Hires Mattered
Vincent Domien, HSBC’s former global head of metals trading and a board member of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), joined Tether in late 2025.
Mathew O’Neill, who oversaw precious metals origination across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the bank, followed him.
Both were recruited as part of CEO Paolo Ardoino’s plan to compete directly with banks like JPMorgan and HSBC in bullion trading.
Ardoino had previously told Bloomberg the company needed to build the best gold trading floor in the world.
Tether has accumulated roughly 140 tons of physical gold, stored in a former Cold War nuclear bunker in Switzerland.
That hoard is valued at approximately $24 billion, making the firm one of the largest known holders of bullion outside central banks, exchange-traded funds and commercial banks.
A Crypto Firm in a Commodities World
The rapid turnaround raises questions about how smoothly a crypto-native company can integrate traditional commodities talent.
Tether bought over 70 tons of gold last year, outpacing nearly every central bank except Poland. The company had also signaled it would actively trade its reserves to capture arbitrage between futures and physical prices.
However, the physical gold market operates on long-standing relationships between banks, refiners, miners and dealers.
Bridging the gap between crypto treasury management and institutional bullion trading has proven difficult.
Tether has not publicly explained the reason for the departures. Neither Domien nor O’Neill has commented.
The company continues to hold substantial gold reserves and issues Tether Gold (XAUT), which accounts for roughly 60% of the gold-backed stablecoin market.
Whether Tether replaces the traders or restructures its gold desk entirely may signal how committed the firm remains to Ardoino’s vision of rivaling sovereign-scale gold holders.
