Tether Launches Gold-Backed Token in Switzerland

Tether is working on a new portfolio of synthetic assets, starting with aUSDT token backed by physical gold stored in Switzerland.

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, has just introduced a new category of crypto called "tethered assets".
According to an announcement on June 17, the first token to be launched is “Alloy by Tether”, or aUSDT, on the Ethereum network. This is a token backed by physical gold, stored in Switzerland.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino shared on X:

"Alloy by Tether is an open platform that allows users to create collateralized synthetic digital assets and will soon be part of Tether's new digital asset tokenization platform, scheduled to launch later this year."

Tether describes aUSDT as a cryptocurrency “designed to track the value of 1 US dollar” but is overcollateralized by Tether Gold (XAUT), emphasizing that the token is backed by physical gold. Users can create aUSDT using XAUT as collateral, the company added.

XAUT is another Tether product, with a market capitalization of $573 million, but is less popular than the company’s stablecoin USDT, which has a market capitalization of over $100 billion.
Tether said aUSDT was developed with support from Moon Gold NA, S.A. de C.V. and Moon Gold El Salvador, S.A. de C.V., members of the “Tether Group.”

It’s clear that Tether is trying to expand its services beyond the “shadow” of USDT’s issuer, which remains a mainstay of the crypto market. The company has also recently invested in Bitcoin mining, payment processing, and artificial intelligence (AI) through cloud computing.

Tether reportedly plans to invest more than $1 billion in various deals over the next year, amid a crackdown by the US government.