Tether Gold (XAUT)
Tether Gold (XAUt) is a stablecoin that maintains its value by being pegged to the price of gold. It is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, introduced in January 2020, and is issued by Tether, the company behind USDT. Each XAUt token corresponds to one troy fine ounce of gold, supported by physical bars meeting the London Good Delivery (LGD) standard.
When individuals wish to acquire XAUt tokens, Tether secures ownership of one troy ounce of physical gold per token, storing it in custodial vaults. Tokens are then issued to the buyer, and they can also be obtained through secondary markets. Holders have the option to exchange their tokens for physical gold, with the gold being delivered to a specified location in Switzerland, or they can request Tether Gold to sell the gold and receive the proceeds.
| Ticker | XAUT |
| Category | Stablecoins |
| Website | https://gold.tether.to/ |
| @tethergold | |
| Contract Addresses | |
|---|---|
| ethereum | 0x68...38 Copied! |
Each on-chain address with XAUt tokens is linked to specific gold bars, with a "Look-up Website" being developed to help users identify the gold bars associated with each address. When tokens are transferred between addresses, the corresponding physical gold is reallocated to minimize the number of gold bars linked to each address, ensuring each token represents ownership of a particular gold bar.
To purchase or redeem XAUt, users must complete an identity verification process, agree to terms specific to XAUt, and meet purchase or redemption minimums.
Use cases
Safe-haven asset
Tether Gold provides a digital token with the economic qualities of physical gold, reducing the costs associated with holding the actual asset. While the physical gold remains stored in vaults, XAUt allows for the transfer of ownership and value worldwide.
Liquid and effective portfolio hedge
XAUt offers access to small denominations of physical gold at wholesale prices, democratizing access to the asset and enabling a diverse range of investors to include it in their portfolios.
Sovereign-neutral monetary unit
XAUt combines the monetary principles of gold and bitcoin, offering a sovereign-neutral monetary unit. It merges the scarcity and stability of gold with bitcoin's non-partisan nature, providing a money-like asset with potential for broad acceptance.