Tether Gold
XAUTXAUT is Tether's gold-backed token. Each token represents ownership of one fine troy ounce of physical gold held in Swiss vaults. The second-largest tokenized gold product behind PAXG by market cap.
XAUT is one troy ounce of London Good Delivery gold per token, vaulted in Switzerland by TG Commodities (a Tether subsidiary). Price tracks spot gold one-for-one minus a small custody fee, so all the standard gold drivers apply — real rates, USD, central bank flow. The XAUT-specific factor is the issuer-trust premium relative to NYDFS-regulated alternatives like PAXG. XAUT historically trades at a small persistent discount that widens during stress events touching the Tether ecosystem and narrows when the broader USDT trust picture is benign. Liquidity is concentrated on Bitfinex and a handful of CEXs; redemption is gated by the 50oz Good Delivery bar threshold (already documented as a flag on the rating).
The same gold tailwind from central bank reserve diversification benefits XAUT, but the regulatory and institutional flow story diverges sharply from PAXG. US allocators broadly cannot hold XAUT for compliance reasons; offshore allocators (Asian family offices, EM treasuries, certain crypto-native funds) can and do. As long as the Tether ecosystem remains operationally clean, the XAUT discount to PAXG is a structural carry trade for unconstrained capital. The discount widens at any USDT-related stress event — a feature for buyers of the dip, a risk for fully-loaded longs.
- ›All KAU/PAXG watchlist items (real rates, CB flow, DXY, ETF flows)
- ›XAUT/PAXG price spread — widening = USDT trust deteriorating
- ›Tether quarterly attestations (BDO) — XAUT operational status
- ›Bitfinex XAUT order book depth — primary liquidity venue
- ›EU MiCA compliance posture from Tether — could reshape XAUT distribution
- ×Material USDT incident that contaminates XAUT trust by association
- ×Loss of Swiss vaulting arrangement or independent attestation provider
- ×Regulated competitor wrapper (PAXG, future BNY/State Street tokens) capturing the offshore institutional flow XAUT currently owns
Editorial macro context · refreshed each methodology cycle · not investment advice
Price data from CoinGecko. Not financial advice.
Risk assessment is indicative. Conduct thorough due diligence before investing.
Calculations are indicative. Actual yields may vary.