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 XAUโฎ, Tetherโs gold-backed digital asset, into Gold.comโs 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 XAUโฎ now holding over 60% market share and $2.4 billion in circulation, overtaking PAXG for the top spot in the category.
According to Tether, XAUโฎ is fully backed by allocated physical gold held in secure vaults, with daily attestations and issuance under El Salvadorโs 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.
โGold 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,โ he said. โXAUโฎ was built with that principle in mind, combining the resilience of gold with the efficiency of blockchain-based settlement.โ
The partnership also signals Tetherโs 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 USDโฎ and USAโฎ, Tetherโs flagship and newly regulated dollar-backed stablecoins, for gold purchases.
