Tether Launches '$4.48 Scudo' Unit To Push Gold For Daily Payments

Tether Divides Gold into $4.48 'Scudo' Units for Payments

Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, has introduced a new unit of measurement for its gold-backed token, XAUT, to make gold a viable medium for everyday payments. The new unit, named "Scudo," is defined as one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold, equivalent to approximately $4.48 at current prices. This initiative mirrors the structure of Bitcoin, where a "satoshi" represents the smallest divisible unit, making microtransactions possible. Tether stated that this move lowers the barrier for users to own and transact with fractions of gold, a traditionally trusted asset.

Through Scudo, we are lowering the barrier to entry, allowing anyone to own, easily price, and transact with even a fraction of the world's most trusted asset.

— Paolo Ardoino, CEO

The company confirmed that the introduction of Scudo does not alter the physical gold backing XAUT, which it claims is stored in secure vaults. According to Tether's website, holders can redeem their tokens for physical gold bars delivered to any address in Switzerland, with reserves for XAUT listed as 1,329 gold bars totaling 16.2 tons.

XAUT Market Cap Triples to $2.3B, Intensifying Gold Token Rivalry

The push for greater utility comes as XAUT's market capitalization has nearly tripled over the past year, reaching $2.3 billion according to CoinGecko data. This growth sharpens the competition in the tokenized gold market, particularly with rival Paxos and its PAXG token. PAXG, the first redeemable gold-backed digital asset, saw its own market cap double to $1.7 billion in the same period, demonstrating strong investor demand for tokenized precious metals.

Tether cites persistent inflation fears, interest rate uncertainty, and record gold purchases by central banks as creating an opportunity to restore gold's role as a transactional medium. While Tether's XAUT has gained significant traction, particularly in emerging markets, Paxos is leveraging its regulatory standing. Paxos notes that its approval for a national bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) positions PAXG as the only institutional-grade gold token under federal regulatory supervision. Tether's own reserve attestations for XAUT have previously been noted for not fully conforming to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).