Tether's 'Gold Standard' Ambition: Deconstructing XAUt, How the Stablecoin Giant is Hoarding Gold?
Tether, the company behind the dominant stablecoin USDT, is rapidly becoming a major global buyer of physical gold, with holdings of approximately 140 metric tons valued at around $23 billion. A significant portion of this, over 70 tons, was acquired last year alone to back its gold-backed stablecoin, XAUt.
Each XAUt token represents ownership of one troy ounce of LBMA-standard gold, stored in a high-security Swiss vault. The on-chain token facilitates the transfer of ownership of the underlying physical asset. The operation is run by TG Commodities, a Salvadoran entity fully owned by Tether, which is authorized by El Salvador's national digital asset regulator.
Tether's CEO has stated the company aims to allocate 10-15% of its portfolio to gold, purchasing an estimated one to two tons per week. With robust profits, this could potentially double its current XAUt reserves. This scale of purchasing has positioned Tether as a significant "marginal buyer" in the gold market, comparable to central banks.
While other gold-backed tokens like PAXG and DGX exist, Tether's massive accumulation introduces a new dynamic. The product aims to make gold more divisible and transferable, but it also intertwines the stability of physical gold with the volatility of the crypto market, raising questions about the long-term implications of this new asset class.
marsbit02/02 12:03
