Is Tether's gold token XAUT worth buying?

Author: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily

2026, Survival is King.

In our previous article, “2026, Survive: A Bear Market Survival and Counterattack Manual for Crypto Enthusiasts,” we systematically outlined this year’s “survival strategies,” emphasizing asset allocation in precious metals like gold. For those aiming to combat inflation, weaken fiat currency devaluation, and hedge against the US dollar exchange rate decline through gold, the next challenge is how to allocate gold-related assets.

Based on my personal understanding, XAUT issued by Tether may be the best way for crypto users to allocate gold assets. Considering Tether’s recent launch of a new accounting unit “Scudo” for Tether Gold (XAU₮), the threshold for gold token allocation has sharply dropped to just a few dollars.

Odaily Planet Daily will systematically analyze whether XAUT is worth including in your portfolio.

Potential Support for Gold Price Rise: US Policies, ETF Inflows, Bank Ratings

Last September, when spot gold prices remained around $3,400–$3,500, we introduced five major gold tokens in our article “Gold Price Expected to Continue Rising to $3,900/oz,” with XAUT among them. Looking back three months later, the spot gold price once surged to around $4,550 per ounce, which is truly astonishing.

Moreover, despite recent phase-based price corrections, the upward momentum of spot gold has not been significantly broken. Specifically, the support for gold prices comes from the following sources:

World Gold Council: US Supreme Court Tariff Decision and Other Three Factors Only Cause Short-term Fluctuations in Gold Prices

The World Gold Council released a report stating that the surge in precious metals (including silver and platinum) in December and the rebalancing of the commodity index may trigger short-term market volatility. However, aside from these short-term fluctuations, gold is expected to continue its intrinsic trend. The upcoming US Supreme Court ruling on tariff policies could significantly impact US trade policy, which may have a more complex effect on gold but also serve as potential support. Lastly, ongoing geopolitical conflicts (recent US actions in Venezuela are a recent example) also support gold prices.

In 2025, Gold Prices Hit 53 New Records, ETF Inflows Reach Unprecedented Levels

The World Gold Council states that in 2025, with gold prices hitting 53 new records, global investors injected unprecedented funds into gold ETFs. North American funds contributed the majority of the global inflows. Meanwhile, gold holdings in Asia nearly doubled, and Europe also showed significant demand.

Gold Rose About 65% in 2025 and Hit Over 50 New Highs; Silver Rose About 150%

The precious metals market in 2025 shows that spot gold closed at $4,318.65 per ounce on December 31, down 0.46%. Against the backdrop of de-dollarization worldwide, the Fed restarting rate cuts, and central banks continuously buying gold, gold became the most dazzling “star asset” of 2025, with a total increase of about 65%, reaching a historic high of $4,549.96 per ounce, and setting over 50 new highs during the year.

UBS: Raises Gold Price Targets for March, June, and September 2026 to $5,000/oz

UBS maintains a bullish stance and has raised its gold price targets for March, June, and September 2026 to $5,000 per ounce (previously $4,500). It expects gold prices to slightly decline to $4,800 per ounce by the end of 2026.

Based on this information, gold is expected to remain strong over the next year. Now, let’s discuss why Tether’s gold token XAUT is worth allocating.

Four Major Advantages of XAUT Allocation: High Market Cap, Low Threshold, Good Liquidity, Leverage Support

First, Tether’s strong financial backing and the gold reserves and ample liquidity behind XAUT.

In early this month, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that Tether purchased 8,888 bitcoins on New Year’s Eve 2025, worth about $780 million. This transaction increased Tether’s publicly held bitcoin to over 96,000 coins. Tether also regularly allocates 15% of its quarterly profits to Bitcoin. Additionally, in Q3 2025, Tether bought 26 tons of gold, bringing its total gold holdings to 116 tons, ranking among the top 30 global gold holders. The market cap of around $2.3 billion also demonstrates XAUT’s sufficient liquidity.

Second, Tether recently launched a new accounting unit “Scudo” for XAUT.

According to official sources, Tether officially introduced a new valuation unit for Tether Gold (XAUT), called Scudo. This unit aims to re-establish gold as a means of payment; one Scudo is defined as one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold or one-thousandth of an XAUT (about $4.4). This move simplifies pricing by addressing the issue of long decimal places in transactions or pricing, making gold more practical in daily economic activities. Tether Gold is fully backed by physical gold stored in secure vaults, and the introduction of Scudo does not change the structure or backing of XAUT.

Third, XAUT is listed on major CEX and DEX platforms, supporting spot trading and leveraged contracts.

According to Coingecko, XAUT is supported for trading on CEX platforms like Bybit, OKX, Bitget, and on DEX platforms such as Uniswap, Fluid, Curve.

Finally, Tether’s dominant position in the stablecoin sector and its highly profitable business operations provide strong support for XAUT’s growth. Its industry application and adoption are expected to further increase in 2026.

According to Bloomberg citing Artemis Analytics data, global stablecoin trading volume surged 72% year-over-year in 2025, reaching a record $33 trillion. Circle’s USDC accounted for $18.3 trillion, ranking first; Tether’s USDT traded $13.3 trillion, also remaining high. Together, they dominate most stablecoin trading activity.

Considering the continuous decline of the USD/CNY exchange rate, for most ordinary people with limited liquidity and lower risk appetite, converting part of their fiat into gold tokens like XAUT might be a relatively better option.