What is Tether Gold (XAUT)?
Tether Gold (XAUT) is a digital ownership record for physical gold, with each token representing one troy ounce kept in Swiss vaults. It is issued by TG Commodities Limited, a Tether subsidiary, and its price moves in lockstep with the spot price of gold.
What makes XAUT different from holding physical bullion?
Owning gold bars involves storage, insurance, and transportation logistics. XAUT strips those burdens away:
It is fractional. One token can be split down to 0,001 XAUT, making it possible to accumulate gold in amounts that are impractical in the physical market.
It trades around the clock. Transfers and trades settle on-chain 24/7, including weekends and holidays, without depending on market hours.
It fits in a wallet. Carrying gold across borders becomes as simple as holding a private key; the physical vault stays in Switzerland while the title moves with the owner.
How does the reserve model actually work?
There is no fixed issuance schedule. New XAUT tokens are minted only when an additional ounce of gold enters the vault, so the circulating supply mirrors the physical reserve at all times. Tether publishes the serial numbers and weights of each bar, letting holders verify their allocation against real-world assets.
The token lives on multiple blockchains simultaneously. It runs as an ERC-20 asset on Ethereum and a BEP-20 asset on BNB Smart Chain, with the total supply across all chains matching the consolidated gold reserve.
Physical redemption is possible but comes with conditions. Holders with enough XAUT can request delivery of the physical gold bars stored in Switzerland, subject to a minimum threshold and operational fees. The process takes several business days and is designed for institutional-sized redemptions rather than small retail claims.