Tether launches new fractional unit for Tether Gold (XAUT)

Tether has introduced a new fractional unit for Tether Gold aimed at making on-chain gold easier to price, transfer, and use as a payment asset.

Tether has launched a new unit of account for Tether Gold aimed at making on-chain gold easier to price and use in everyday transactions.

The update was announced on Jan. 6 by Tether in an official statement outlining the launch of Scudo, a fractional denomination designed specifically for Tether Gold (XAUT).

A smaller unit to make gold usable on-chain

Scudo is defined as one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold, or one-thousandth of a single XAUT token. The change does not alter how Tether Gold is issued or backed. Instead, it introduces a simpler way to measure and transfer value as gold prices continue to rise.

Tether said its goal is to reduce the friction associated with pricing assets in small decimal fractions of an ounce. While XAUT already tokenizes physical gold, everyday use has been limited by unintuitive denominations. Scudo is meant to solve that problem by allowing users to transact in whole or partial units that are easier to understand.

The company compared the approach to Bitcoin’s (BTC) use of satoshis, where smaller denominations make the asset more practical for payments rather than just long-term storage.

No change to backing or custody structure

Tether emphasized that Scudo does not affect XAUT’s underlying structure. Tether Gold remains fully backed by physical gold held in secure vaults, with ownership verifiable on-chain using Tether’s asset reporting tools.

There are no new recurring fees tied to Scudo. XAUT continues to carry only standard issuance and redemption costs, with no ongoing custodial charges. The new unit is purely a denomination layer, not a new token or product.

The launch also fits into Tether’s wider move toward strengthening self-custody tools. The company pointed to its Wallet Development Kit, which gives developers and businesses an easier way to build wallets that support XAUT alongside other assets.

The move comes as gold prices reached record highs in 2025, driven by inflation concerns, central bank accumulation, and demand for safe-haven assets. Tether said interest in tokenized gold has increased alongside these trends.

XAUT’s market capitalization doubled in late 2025, reaching roughly $2.3 billion, making it the largest gold-backed token by supply. Analysts say introducing smaller units could help expand on-chain gold use in payments, lending, and cross-border settlement, where transaction size has been a barrier.