Tether acquires 12% stake in Gold.com in $150M strategic investment

Tether, the stablecoin issuer, has acquired a 12% ownership position in Gold.com for $150 million, deepening its expansion into the tokenized gold ecosystem.

The investment establishes a long-term partnership to integrate XAU₮, Tether’s gold-backed digital asset, into Gold.com’s distribution channels and explore new on-ramps connecting physical gold and digital currencies.

The announcement comes as gold recently surged to a record high above $5,500 per ounce in late January before retracing roughly 15%, trading around $4,700 at press time.

The gold-backed stablecoin market has tripled over the past year to $5.5 billion, with XAU₮ now holding over 60% market share and $2.4 billion in circulation, overtaking PAXG for the top spot in the category.

According to Tether, XAU₮ is fully backed by allocated physical gold held in secure vaults, with daily attestations and issuance under El Salvador’s Digital Asset Issuance Law. Each token represents one fine troy ounce linked to a London Good Delivery bar, with backing totaling roughly 140 tonnes of gold.

CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that the move reflects long-term strategy, not speculation.

“Gold exposure is not a trade for Tether; it is a hedge and a long-term allocation to protect our user base and ourselves in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable,” he said. “XAU₮ was built with that principle in mind, combining the resilience of gold with the efficiency of blockchain-based settlement.”

The partnership also signals Tether’s push to bridge crypto-native and traditional finance, offering access to gold in real-world retail and institutional contexts.

The firms are exploring the use of USD₮ and USA₮, Tether’s flagship and newly regulated dollar-backed stablecoins, for gold purchases.