Tether Brings Gold Stablecoin to TON
Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer in the world, has deployed its omnichain gold token, XAUt0, on The Open Network (TON). Based on LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, XAUt0 facilitates seamless transfer between blockchains—without wrapping or third-party bridges.
The launch is part of a strategic partnership with the TON Foundation and follows Tether’s April introduction of its dollar-pegged stablecoin USDt on the same network.
XAUt0 vs Traditional Gold Investments
Tether’s traditional gold token XAUt, which only exists on Ethereum, rules the gold stablecoin space with a $832 million market capitalization. XAUt0, the omnichain variant, aims to expand its reach with blockchain-agnostic interoperability.
One XAUt0 token is equivalent to a single troy ounce of physical gold, which is said to be warehoused in a Swiss vault. Tether currently has 7.7 tons of gold backing its XAUt supply as of Q1 2025.
The new iteration places Tether directly in competition with Paxos’s PAXG and gold-backed ETFs, which are experiencing a resurgence in the wake of global financial uncertainty.
Gold’s Bull Run Boosts Appeal
Gold has surged due to global economic uncertainty and trade wars, rising 29.5% year-over-year to $3,304 an ounce on May 30. This has also driven growth in gold ETFs, with the top eight funds rising over 25% year-to-date.
As investors move towards safe-haven assets, Tether’s introduction of omnichain gold tokens can potentially onboard both crypto-aware consumers and institutional investors looking for new exposure to gold.
On the USDT0 Blueprint
The XAUt0 launch is following up on the earlier deployment of USDT0, an omnichain version of Tether’s dollar-pegged USDt stablecoin that currently operates on Optimism’s multi-chain Superchain network.
With interoperability at the forefront of DeFi infrastructure, XAUt0 may be the future of tokenized commodities aimed at global liquidity on decentralized networks.
