What is Tether Gold (XAUT)?
Tether Gold (XAUT) is a gold-backed token issued by a Tether affiliate, with each token representing ownership of one troy ounce of physical gold.
Tether Gold was launched in 2020, according to Tether's official site, by the company behind the USDT stablecoin. Tether Gold is issued by TG Commodities Limited, a Tether affiliate, with the aim of letting people hold and move physical gold on a blockchain.
Tether Gold is often cited as a leading example of tokenized real-world assets because it turns gold into a digital asset. Each Tether Gold token is tied to ownership of fine gold on a specific physical bar.
Where is Tether Gold's gold stored?
The gold behind Tether Gold is stored in a vault in Switzerland, according to Tether, and is described as meeting the London Bullion Market Association's Good Delivery standard. Tether Gold holders can use a lookup tool from Tether to see details such as the serial number, purity and weight of the bar linked to their tokens.
Tether Gold exists as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and a TRC20 token on TRON, and it can be sent to any compatible on-chain address. Tether Gold has more recently extended to additional blockchains through a cross-chain version of the token.
What is Tether Gold's supply?
Tether Gold has no fixed maximum supply; new tokens are issued only after physical gold has been acquired and verified. Tether Gold's circulating supply therefore moves with the gold reserve, and Tether publishes quarterly attestation reports on its holdings.
Tether Gold's reserves grew by about 36% in Q1 2026 and about 9.5% in Q2 2026, according to Tether's announcements, with the Q2 increase reported during a quarter when gold prices fell. Tether Gold has become one of the larger products in the tokenized gold market and is used on various exchanges and in some decentralized finance services as collateral or a trading asset.
What are the benefits and risks of Tether Gold?
Tether Gold's notable features include the ability to hold gold in small fractions, transfer it at any hour, and, according to Tether, pay no custody fees. Tether Gold's allocated structure, which ties tokens to specific bars, is also described as a transparency benefit.
Tether Gold is a centralized product that depends on trust in the issuer and custodian, and reserve verification relies largely on attestations Tether publishes. Anyone studying Tether Gold should also consider regulatory changes, the conditions and costs of redeeming physical gold, and the volatility of gold prices themselves.
