Tether Gold (XAUT) Advances Lending Partnerships and Payment Integration
Strategic Consolidation Around Core Gold Token
Ledn added XAUT as loan collateral on June 19, 2026, allowing borrowers to use tokenized gold for liquidity without selling their asset. The partnership was disclosed on June 18, 2026 by Ledn and confirmed publicly by Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. XAUT-backed loans are expected to launch later in 2026, with no interest rates, loan-to-value ratios, or minimum borrowing amounts yet disclosed.
Tether phased out its aUSDT stablecoin on June 18, 2026, discontinuing an underused gold-backed dollar token to focus on XAUT. New minting was halted immediately, with a redemption deadline of September 17, 2026. The move followed limited adoption, with aUSDT's market cap reaching only $1.27 million.
Payment Infrastructure Expansion
On June 3, Tether and Fasset introduced a gold-backed Visa card that links everyday payments to XAUT and Tether Gold, giving eligible users rewards in tokenized gold. The new card gives eligible users up to 6% cashback in XAUT on qualifying purchases. The card includes an automatic round-up feature where spare change from transactions can be invested into XAUT, making gold accumulation feel closer to a savings habit than a market trade.
Market Performance and Position
The price of Tether Gold (XAUT) is $4,128.15 with a 24-hour trading volume of $125,490,643.75, representing a -0.80% price decline in the last 24 hours and a 2.60% price increase in the past 7 days. Market capitalization of Tether Gold (XAUT) is $2,530,147,969 and is ranked #37 on CoinGecko.
The tokenized gold market shows robust growth, with XAUt dominating a rapidly expanding sector for blockchain-based commodities. XAUt's market dominance is narrowing as competitors like PAXG gain share; XAUt's share fell to slightly above 50% in January 2026.
Institutional Demand and Cross-Chain Expansion
The launch of an omnichain version (XAUt0) on TON via LayerZero improves cross-chain accessibility. Crypto fintech Antalpha accrued over $100 million in unrealized gains from a $241 million XAUt position accumulated at ~$3,693/token.