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Gold backing grows in Q2
Tether said its tokenized gold product Tether Gold (XAUt) saw physical gold reserves expand 9.5% in the second quarter, even as spot gold posted its steepest quarterly decline in 13 years with a 14.1% drop.
“Tether's physical gold reserves expanded 9.5% in the second quarter”
BigGo Finance reported that the XAUt backing reserves grew to approximately 146 metric tons, while TradingView data showed spot gold prices fell 14.1% in the same period.
Tether also said the reserve increase came as the broader tokenized real-world asset market faced pressure, with RWA.xyz data showing the total value of distributed tokenized commodities fell 4.2% over the past 30 days to $4.58 billion.
In the same reporting, BigGo Finance said Tether Gold currently ranks as the largest distributed tokenized commodity product with a total value of $2.4 billion as of Monday, and that the company added 14 tons of gold during the second quarter.
The company’s Q2 disclosures also tied the gold accumulation strategy to USDT issuance, with BigGo Finance reporting new USDT circulation increased by roughly $500 million during the quarter.
Ardoino frames demand
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive officer, said holders of Tether Gold are not only buying XAUt when gold prices rise, but are using market weakness to increase ownership of physical gold.
In Monday’s XAUt attestation report, Ardoino said, "Holders of Tether Gold are not only buying XAUt when the price of gold is rising," and he added that they are using periods of market weakness to increase ownership through a product that is "fully backed, transparent, portable and accessible onchain."
Cointelegraph and TradingView both linked the 9.5% reserve rise to growing demand for tokenized gold exposure, while also citing the same 14.1% quarterly gold decline.
RWA.xyz data cited in the coverage showed the value of distributed tokenized commodities fell 4.2% to $4.58 billion in the past 30 days, while the number of holders rose 6.5% to 253,000.
Separately, the reporting said XAUt received Shariah certification from Amanah Advisors in July, which was described as a move that could expand access to the token among Islamic financial institutions.
Metrics, vaulting, and next watch
Tether.io’s Q2 announcement said that as of 30 June 2026 at 11:59 PM UTC, the Management of TG Commodities, S.A. de C.V. confirmed total physical gold reserves of 707,747.139 fine troy ounces and total gold reserves held of approximately 22.01 metric tonnes.
“Total Physical Gold Reserves: 707,747.139 fine troy ounces”
The same Tether.io release stated that full 1:1 backing was maintained at all times, with at least one fine troy ounce of physical gold held in reserve for every XAUt token in circulation.
Tether.io also said the reserves comprise 1,759 London Good Delivery bars weighing approximately 12.5 kilograms each, all vaulted in Switzerland, and it reported tokens sold of 612,823.660000 XAUt with tokens available for sale of 94,923.430000 XAUt.
The release described customer holdings increasing by approximately 9.5%, representing ownership of an additional 1.66 tonnes of the physical gold already held in reserve, and it gave a total market value of approximately US$2.837 billion at quarter end.
BigGo Finance framed the next quarterly focus around whether the reserve buffer holds, grows, or narrows, noting that the reserve buffer of $4.11 billion in Q2 contrasted with the $8.2 billion surplus recorded at the end of the first quarter.
