Tether’s gold-backed XAUT stablecoin holds 7.7 tons of reserves after first quarter

With the price of gold rising amid global economic uncertainty, Tether had nearly eight tons of gold backing its XAUT token at the end of the first quarter, according to a Monday release.

"Tether Gold maintains its position as the highest market-cap, most secure, and compliant tokenized gold product in the market," the company said in a statement. At the end of Q1, Tether said it had 7.7 tons, or 246,523 ounces, backing its gold-backed stablecoin, which it launched in 2020.

The company also called the Monday release "the first official attestation specific to XAUT." Tether regularly publishes attestations for its USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and has a supply of nearly $148 billion. At the end of Q1, XAUT had a market cap of $770 million, Tether also said.

While Tether's XAUT token is not nearly as popular as USDT, the gold-backed cryptocurrency has been appreciating in value as the price of the precious metal climbs in concert with global economic uncertainty. Markets have been particularly volatile in recent weeks, largely due to President Donald Trump's tariff policies. 

Generally considered a store of value with a stable price, gold's value is up by about 8% during the last 30 days. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has gained over 14% during the same period. With gold prices rising, Tether said XAUT hit its highest all-time price a week ago when it reached $3,423.

"Each XAUT token is backed 1:1 by one troy ounce of physical gold, securely stored in a dedicated vault within world-class facilities in Switzerland.," according to Tether.