Tether Lays Off Gold Traders Hired from HSBC Just Months Earlier

Tether Cuts Senior Traders After Record Gold Purchases

Tether Holdings SA has made significant changes to its precious metals trading team, cutting two senior traders just months after hiring them from HSBC Holdings Plc. Vincent Domien and Mathew O'Neill, who were recruited to create a top-tier trading floor for gold, have both been let go, according to people familiar with the matter. The reason for their departure is not immediately clear.

The departures come after Tether completed a record year of gold purchases, buying more than almost any central bank. The company, which employs about 300 people, had grown large enough that some analysts pointed to its impact on the precious metal's rally. Domien and O'Neill were brought in to professionalize Tether's bullion buying and help the firm generate income by actively managing its gold reserves.

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Both Domien and O'Neill previously held senior roles at HSBC — Domien as global head of metals trading and O'Neill as a top salesperson. The hires were the talk of the gold market, as Tether became one of the largest holders of bullion outside banks and nation states, storing the metal in a former nuclear bunker in Switzerland.

Tether has stated that it strives to operate with a lean team and continuously optimize its operations. The company has been building a state-of-the-art gold team that leverages expertise gathered from all of its recent investments. Over the past year, a number of top traders have been poached from banks that have traditionally dominated the gold market.

Tether is the issuer of USDT, the world's largest dollar-pegged stablecoin with around $184 billion in circulation. It held about 140 tons of gold at the start of the year, mostly to back USDT, as well as its smaller gold-backed coin XAUT. The significance of Tether's gold buying came into focus in March, as the metal headed for its worst monthly performance since 2008.

Tether's long-held gold position remains deeply profitable, but declines in both the metal and Bitcoin are likely to have weighed on its portfolio. The company has announced plans to raise as much as $20 billion in external funding, but these plans are on hold pending the results of its first full financial audit, which it has engaged a major accounting firm to conduct.

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