Tether Gold Hits $3.3B Cap on 36% Reserve Growth

Tether Gold, the blockchain-based token issued by Tether, reached a market capitalization of more than $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, fueled by a 36 percent increase in its physical gold reserves.

The product, known as XAUt, ended the quarter with 707,747 fine troy ounces of gold in reserve, up from 520,089 ounces at the end of 2025. Each XAUt token represents one troy ounce of physical gold stored in Swiss vaults and compliant with London Bullion Market Association standards for London Good Delivery bars. Tether stated that tokens are issued only after bars pass custodian verification, with each linked to a specific bar by serial number, purity, and weight. Independent third-party audits verify a sample of reserves each quarter.

Circulation stood at approximately 559,599 tokens sold, with 148,148 available for sale, according to the company's disclosures. XAUt now commands over half the market for tokenized gold, outpacing rival PAX Gold, which has a market cap near $2.2 billion under New York State Department of Financial Services oversight.

The growth mirrored surging global gold demand amid macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and shifting...