Tether Bets on Gold
Tether expands XAU₮ as Ledn prepares to launch loans backed by tokenized gold later this year.
Tether is expanding the use cases for XAU₮, its gold-backed token. Crypto lending platform Ledn has added support for the asset, and later this year users will be able to take out loans secured by tokenized gold without having to sell their holdings.
For now, Ledn users can store and trade XAU₮ on the platform. Gold-backed lending is scheduled to launch later in 2026, following a model similar to the platform's existing Bitcoin-backed loans. This will allow investors to retain exposure to gold prices while accessing liquidity at the same time.
Each XAU₮ token represents one troy ounce of physical gold stored in Swiss vaults. According to Ledn, all customer collateral is held on a fully backed 1:1 basis and is never rehypothecated or used to generate additional yield through lending.
Tether continues to strengthen the XAU₮ ecosystem. As of March 31, 2026, the token was backed by 707,747.139 troy ounces of gold, up from 520,089.350 ounces at the end of 2025. During the same period, XAU₮'s market capitalization grew from approximately $2.25 billion to more than $3.3 billion.
Tether's total gold holdings are now worth around $23 billion. According to Reuters, by the end of March the company held roughly 132 metric tonnes of gold valued at nearly $19.8 billion as part of USDT's reserves, while approximately 22 tonnes were allocated to backing XAU₮.
The company is steadily increasing the role of tokenized gold within its ecosystem. Following the wind-down of the Alloy and aUSDT projects, users can redeem their XAU₮ until September 17 before Alloy support is permanently discontinued.
Gold-backed lending has long been a well-established product in traditional finance. Tether and Ledn are now bringing this model to digital assets, allowing XAU₮ holders to borrow stablecoins against their tokenized gold while maintaining exposure to the underlying asset's price.
Loans secured by tokenized gold and cryptocurrencies are still relatively rare but are gradually gaining traction. The growth of this segment highlights how digital assets are increasingly being recognized as legitimate forms of financial collateral. If this trend continues, products of this kind could become a standard feature of the financial services industry over the coming years.
