Overview of Tether Gold (XAUt)
Tether Gold (XAUt) is a digital asset introduced by Tether Operations Limited in January 2020. XAUt tokens are pegged to physical gold, with each token representing one troy fine ounce of London Good Delivery gold stored in a secure vault in Switzerland. This gold-backed stablecoin was developed to meet growing demand for a digital asset that combines gold’s stability with the ease of blockchain-based transactions.
Purpose and Functionality
Concept and Structure
Tether Gold is designed to provide users with a highly mobile “safe-haven” asset that mirrors the value of physical gold. The asset seeks to blend the traditional safety of gold investments with the liquidity and accessibility characteristic of digital assets. This structure allows XAUt holders to either redeem their tokens for physical gold or trade the tokens in the digital marketplace, offering an alternative to conventional gold markets.
Asset Management and Custody
The gold backing XAUt tokens is held by a custodian in Swiss vaults and is insured, although Tether disclaims full coverage. Each XAUt token is directly associated with specific gold bars, traceable through Tether’s online system, where holders can identify the exact gold bar allocated to their token’s on-chain address.
