Tether Expands Its Asset Diversification Strategy by Holding Over $800M in Physical Gold

Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, continues to expand its asset diversification strategy. The first certification report for Tether Gold (XAUT) by BDO Italia reveals that the token is backed by more than 7.7 tons of physical gold, valued at over $800 million.

According to the document, at the end of the first quarter, 246,523 XAUT tokens were in circulation, each equivalent to one troy ounce of gold, making a total of 7.7 tons of gold in reserve.

This volume is part of a broader strategy by Tether to increase the trust in its tokens, especially relevant in a market that has seen several cases of lack of transparency in cryptocurrency funds.

Tether's initiative to tokenize gold aims to solve old problems of the precious metal, such as storage, insurance and transportation costs. In addition, investors can access XAUT through various exchanges, increasing the convenience for those who want to diversify their portfolio.

The price of Tether Gold rose from $3.123 to $3.344 between the end of March and April, bringing XAUT’s market cap to $825 million.

"Central banks are hoarding hundreds and thousands of tons of gold, and now XAUT is poised to become the default tokenized gold product for individuals and institutions to hold billions in value in a single token." said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, commenting on the strengthening of XAUT on social media.

The statement comes amid a global movement by central banks, with 29% of them planning to increase their gold reserves next year, according to data from the World Gold Council.

Tether's strategy to diversify its assets and increase transparency is part of a broader trend in the cryptocurrency market, which seeks to attract more institutional investors with familiar investment vehicles.

However, despite the progress, analysts point out that Tether's transparency remains a concern, similar to previous discussions involving USDT.

Proving gold reserves is an important step, but part of the market still demands more robust financial disclosures, including the company's income statement and balance sheet, to fully understand Tether's operations and the overall health of its tokens.

With initiatives such as XAUT and the entry of competitors such as Paxos, the tokenized gold market tends to mature, consolidating new alternatives for those seeking to combine the stability of traditional assets with the cryptocurrency ecosystem.