Tether builds Metalla Royalty stake to 14% in deepening gold push
The stablecoin issuer has raised its holding in the Canadian royalty company to 13.2 million shares, signalling a sustained rotation of crypto profits into gold-linked mining assets.
Tether International lifted its stake in Metalla Royalty & Streaming to roughly 14% after purchasing 149,116 shares on Monday for $1.36 million, or $9.14 apiece. The El Salvador-based firm now holds 13.2 million shares in the Toronto- and New York-listed company.
The purchase, disclosed in a Canadian early-warning filing, continues a buying programme that began in earnest on June 8, when Tether held about 12% of Metalla. Since then it has accumulated 1.94 million additional shares.
The filing is notable for its forward-looking language. Tether described the position as an investment but reserved the right to buy or sell further shares, engage with Metalla's board and management, or propose changes to the company's capital structure, ownership or operations. That phrasing stops short of an activist agenda but keeps every option on the table.
For investors, the deal underscores a broader pattern: one of the crypto sector's largest capital pools is methodically building exposure to gold royalties rather than operating mines. Royalty structures deliver revenue linked to metal prices without the construction risk, permitting overruns and operating costs that burden producers.
Metalla CEO Brett Heath framed Tether's interest as a valuation play. "They recognize the lofty valuations of the senior royalty companies, and undervalued businesses like Metalla have their attention," he wrote in the company's June shareholder letter.
Metalla holds close to 100 gold, silver and copper royalties and streams. Flagship assets include a 1.5% royalty over part of Iamgold's Côté mine and the adjoining Gosselin deposit in northeastern Ontario, as well as royalties on First Quantum Minerals' Taca Taca copper project in Argentina, Hudbay Minerals' Copper World in Arizona and G Mining Ventures' Tocantinzinho gold mine in Brazil.
Metalla shares slipped 1.3% to C$12.60 by midday Wednesday in Toronto, giving the company a market value of approximately C$1.2 billion.
A gold strategy with scale
Tether's Metalla purchases follow its acquisition of roughly 32% of Elemental Altus Royalties last year, a deal the company explicitly tied to a wider effort to increase exposure to gold and other hard assets.
The financial firepower behind that strategy is substantial. Tether reported $1.5 billion in second-quarter operating profit and total assets of $187.75 billion against $183.64 billion of liabilities at June 30, leaving a $4.11 billion surplus. During the quarter it added 14 tonnes of physical gold, pushing holdings above 146 tonnes.
Separately, the physical gold backing Tether Gold's XAU₮ tokens reached 22 tonnes at the end of June. Customer holdings in those tokens grew 9.5% over the quarter, even as the gold price fell 14%, suggesting demand for tokenised bullion is not purely momentum-driven.
For the royalty sector, Tether's sustained buying raises a question that Metalla's management will be watching closely: whether the stakeholder remains a passive investor or eventually seeks a board seat or strategic influence. The early-warning language ensures the market will get notice either way.
