Tether has launched a brand new unit of account tied to its digital gold token, XAUT, in a transfer aimed toward decreasing limitations to fractional gold possession at a time when institutional buyers and central banks are accumulating the dear steel at file ranges.
On Tuesday, the stablecoin issuer unveiled Scudo, a unit of account representing one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold.
Every Scudo corresponds to 1/1,000 of an XAUT token, Tether’s gold-backed asset. XAUT is supported by greater than 1,300 gold bars held in custody and at present has a market capitalization of roughly $2.3 billion, in keeping with Tether.
Tether stated the introduction of Scudo is designed to make gold possession extra accessible. Whereas gold has lengthy been considered as a dependable retailer of worth, direct possession has traditionally been constrained by storage, custody and divisibility points.
Though XAUT already addressed a lot of these challenges by tokenizing bodily gold, Scudo is meant to additional simplify smaller, onchain transactions backed by the steel.
In keeping with the corporate, the transfer represents a step towards making gold extra simply transactable on trendy digital rails, quite than serving solely as a long-term retailer of worth.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief govt, described gold as “the final word retailer of worth alongside Bitcoin,” following a record-breaking 12 months for bullion costs, which climbed above $4,550 per troy ounce.
In a social media put up, Ardoino in contrast Scudo to satoshis, the smallest unit of account for Bitcoin (BTC).
Associated: Tether solvency fears are ‘misplaced’ as firm sits on massive surplus: CoinShares
The brand new gold rush
Treasured metals posted a file 12 months in 2025, with gold costs rising roughly 65% amid renewed de-dollarization efforts, aggressive central financial institution purchases and protracted inflation considerations amongst buyers.
The rally prolonged past gold. Silver costs climbed greater than 140% throughout the 12 months, reaching about $80 per troy ounce, underscoring broader momentum throughout the metals complicated.
Economist Peter Schiff described the surge as an indication that buyers are bracing for what he referred to as “the best inflation in US historical past,” at the same time as current readings of the Client Worth Index pointed to moderating inflation traits.
Gold’s advance additionally highlighted a divergence with Bitcoin, which completed the 12 months decrease and confirmed restricted proof of safe-haven demand. The distinction was significantly pronounced within the fourth quarter, following a broad deleveraging occasion triggered by the Oct. 10 market crash.
Associated: Crypto’s 2026 funding playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized property
