Tether Gold (XAUT) is a digital asset backed by physical gold. Each XAUT token represents ownership of one troy ounce of gold on a gold bar that meets the Good Delivery standard of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). Tether Gold offers a blockchain-based way to buy, hold, and transfer gold ownership without needing to possess it physically.
Tether Gold operates on the Ethereum and TRON blockchains as an ERC-20 and TRC-20 token, respectively. This digital token leverages blockchain technology to provide the stability of physical gold with the versatility associated with digital assets. Each XAUT token is backed by real gold stored securely in Swiss vaults, and Tether offers transparency by allowing token holders to verify the gold backing on their website. XAUT can be fractionalized, enabling smaller investments by dividing ownership into portions as small as 0.000001 ounces.
Potential use cases for Tether Gold include investment and hedging against market volatility, portfolio diversification, providing an alternative to traditional physical gold and gold ETFs, enabling fractional ownership, and allowing for global accessibility and 24/7 trading. It also offers secure storage and transferability of gold ownership through digital means. Tether Gold can be utilized in investment platforms, digital wallets, financial institutions, and in commodity trading operations.
Tether Gold was launched by Tether on January 23, 2020, marking an expansion from their fiat-collateralized stablecoins into commodity-backed digital assets. Founded by Reeve Collins, Brock Pierce, and Craig Sellars, Tether's initial focus was on providing stablecoins like USDT. Tether Gold was introduced to offer a stable and secure investment in gold through digital means. The project has achieved significant milestones such as integration with major cryptocurrency exchanges, the development of a versatile platform connecting traditional gold investments with modern digital assets, and the introduction of fractional ownership.