Original author: Bright, Foresight News
On the evening of July 8, according to Bloomberg, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether, said in an interview that Tether has its own vault in Switzerland and currently holds $8 billion (about 80 tons) worth of gold. The vault is located in Switzerland, but for security reasons, the company refused to disclose its specific location or when it was established.
Among them, the vast majority of gold is held directly by Tether. Paolo Ardoino said that Tether decided to build its own vault because of cost issues. Paying vault operators commonly used in the precious metals industry is a very luxurious thing.
Tether has become one of the worlds largest gold holders outside of banks and nation-states, with gold held in its vaults valued at about $8 billion, roughly equivalent to the total value of precious metals and other commodities held by UBS Group. Earlier, Paolo Ardoino revealed at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas that Tethers gold reserves were 50 tons.
Gold currently accounts for nearly 5% of Tethers total reserves, mainly used to support its gold token XAUT and as a collateral asset for stablecoins.
Tether Gold (XAUT) is a stablecoin pegged to physical gold issued by TG Commodities Limited, a subsidiary of Tether. Each XAUT token represents 1 ounce of refined gold certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). Currently, XAUT supports Ethereum and TRON networks.
In addition, Tether launched its own Alloy by Tether platform, which allows users to use XAUT as collateral to mint a new synthetic USD stablecoin aUSDT.
According to data from Tethers official website, the current circulating market value of XAUT is approximately 813 million yuan, corresponding to 7.66 tons of gold, or 644 standard London Good Delivery gold bars.
According to Tethers official website, compared to traditional gold, XAUT has the native advantages of cryptocurrency:
1. Easy to transport. Transporting XAUT tokens is no different from other crypto assets.
2. Easy to divisible. XAUT tokens can be divided into the smallest unit of 0.000001 troy ounce of gold.
3. Easy trading around the clock. You can trade 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year on exchanges that support XAUT.
4. Easy exchange. Tether can deliver physical gold bars to any address in Switzerland.
5. Easy storage. Storing XAUT is no different from other crypto assets.
6. Easy to verify. All physical gold that supports XAUT tokens can be tracked on the Tether website, allowing for quick verification of gold configuration.
At the same time, there is no custody fee for holding XAUT, and holders can redeem XAUT for physical gold at any time, but they must meet certain minimum redemption amounts and related fees. The following are the specific fees for purchase and redemption operations on the Tether official website.
Purchase Fee: When purchasing XAUtT through the Tether official platform, a one-time 0.25% handling fee is required. In addition, users are required to complete identity verification and pay a non-refundable verification deposit of 150 USDT, with a minimum purchase of 50 XAUT.
Redemption Fee: When exchanging XAUT for physical gold, a one-time 0.25% handling fee is required. Currently, the minimum redemption amount is 430 XAUT, which is approximately equal to a standard London Good Delivery gold bar. Shipping fees may also be included.
Currently, mainstream exchanges such as Bybit and Okx already support spot and leveraged trading of XAUT, and Bitfinex, the operator of Tether, directly supports 100x perpetual contract trading.
However, Tether is not the first to try putting gold on the chain.
PAX Gold (PAXG) is a digital asset pegged to physical gold issued by Paxos Trust Company, a US fintech company. Each PAXG token represents 1 ounce of gold certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which is held by Paxos and stored in a professional vault in London. PAXG was officially issued on the Ethereum network in 2019 and is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). It is the worlds first fully regulated gold-backed stablecoin.
Currently, PAXG has a market value of approximately US$843 million, but it is basically only available to US customers, so it is also supported by mainstream US exchanges such as Coinbase.
In general, Tether, which has faded out of the US market in the process of compliance with the US GENUIS Act, is increasingly turning its attention to emerging markets. Tethers long-standing popularity, strong asset reserves, and accessibility to storage methods are all contributing to the globalization of XAUT.
