Tether has revealed that its XAUT stablecoin is now officially accepted as a spot commodity under the ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
Building on the back of its USDT stablecoin approval earlier this year, the regulatory update means the largest Gold-backed stablecoin is now classified under the country’s latest spot commodities standards, allowing the digital representation of bullion to be delivery and traded.
Per Tether’s data, XAUT maintains a $2.8B market cap at the time of writing and is already chasing down the market share of many other competing Dollar-backed stablecoins. At its peak in Q1 2026, Tether Gold had over a $3B market cap.
Recently, the stablecoin issuer had also partnered with MiniPay to promote the use of XAUT via a spendable card, where stablecoin cashback is paid out in the Gold token.
Has Tether Revived Gold As A Store Of Value?
On the one hand, currency stablecoins are growing for payment transactions. On the other, there is still a case to be made that Gold in a digital form is a better alternative for savings.
While fiat-backed stablecoins may act as a store of value for individuals in emerging economies, the main reason to hold a stablecoin across regions in LATAM and Africa is to deny the impact of local currency inflation, and protect against higher FX (Foreign Exchange) conversion rates and fees.
The underlying for this can also be helped by using digital wallets that offer stablecoin holders a better savings opportunity on their balances via stablecoin earn programs generating yield.
However, the rise of Gold-backed stablecoins such as Tether’s XAUT and Paxos Gold allow users to receive those savings and rewards (such as via cashback) in a stablecoin backed by a commodity that has been deemed a safe haven for storing value for centuries.
When a user holds a regular payment stablecoin, the value is only stable to the reference currency, or more accurately the underlying reserve of the referenced currency.
Dollar-backed stablecoins are still dependent on the performance of the U.S. Dollar against other currencies, and the underlying reserves such as U.S. Treasuries are also denominated in that same unit of account. Fiat-backed stablecoins are not designed to appreciate/depreciate in value.
Therefore, there has been an increased adoption curve across developing nations for Gold-backed stablecoins, especially as Gold had substantially increased its market value over the last few years, more notably hitting $5.3K per ounce at its peak in 2025.
Today, Gold is trading lower at $4K per ounce according GoldPrice historical metrics, while the broader Gold-backed stablecoin market cap sits at under $5B per CoinGecko, with Tether in first place and Paxos in second.
That being said, Gold-backed stablecoins also have more complicated ownership terms that need to be carefullly read and understood before choosing to consider them over currency stablecoins.
Stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Paxos work with other third-parties to purchase, account, custody, and redeem Gold bullion bars often used for this. Additionally, not all jurisdictions allow for commodity-backed stablecoins to be traded and held by retail or institutional users at present.
