Tether moved to establish a new unit of account for gold on Tuesday, as the stablecoin industry leader argued that transactions denominated in “Scudo” could simplify the precious metal’s use in everyday payments.
Although a lion’s share of the firm’s products are pegged to the U.S. dollar, it described those factors as an “opportunity to restore gold” to its former status: a universally accepted medium of exchange that can’t be devalued by a government’s ability to print money. The company added that its wallet developer kit can help support XAUT on virtually any device.
Tether’s term dates back to the 16th century, more than 400 years before the first version of the internet was developed. Scudo was used to describe a variety of coins in Italy, likely hammered from metal blanks. The term was derived from the Latin word for shield.
Introducing Scudo.A new way to measure the value of gold on-chain. Scudo is a simple, intuitive unit that makes Tether Gold ( XAU₮) easier to use, track, and transact.
Tether said that its introduction of Scudo does not change the fact that gold backing its XAUT tokens is “held in secure vaults.” If an individual would like to redeem their tokens, the company’s website says it can deliver gold bars to “any physical address in Switzerland.”
In April, Ardoino said on X that XAUT was “gaining important traction in emerging markets.”
Tether also offers a token called Alloy, which it bills as a “Tethered Asset.” By pledging XAUT tokens, the company says customers can receive a lesser amount aUSDT tokens, which mirror the functionality of its $187 billion stablecoin and are also pegged to the U.S. Dollar.
Tether’s XAUT may be worth $2.3 billion, but the stablecoin issuer says it owns much more gold than that. The firm said it held 116 tonnes of gold as of the end of Q3 2025, with that tally valued at nearly $17 billion as of Tuesday.
