Tether launches XAUt on BNB Chain as gold trading moves deeper into crypto

Tether has launched Tether Gold, XAUt, on BNB Chain, expanding access to its tokenized bullion product as traders continue looking for ways to hold and trade gold inside crypto markets.

The rollout adds XAUt to one of the industry’s biggest exchange ecosystems and comes the same day Binance said it would list the token for spot trading against pairs including USDT, BTC, USDC, TRY, and U.

The launch lands after a wild stretch for gold. Bullion ripped higher in January as geopolitical tensions pushed investors into safe-haven trades, with spot gold hitting a record $5,595 an ounce during the month. Since then, the move has reversed sharply. Gold was trading near $4,450 on March 26, down more than 15% since the war on Iran began on February 28, as higher oil prices, inflation concerns, and a firmer dollar pressured the metal.

The rally helped pull gold deeper into crypto markets, where investors increasingly want both direct spot exposure and more speculative trading tools.

Crypto.com said earlier this month that its exchange now supports tokenized gold perpetual contracts alongside spot trading in XAUt and PAXG, giving users round-the-clock leveraged exposure to gold price moves.

Tether is leaning into that demand from a position of strength. BNB Chain said XAUt is already the largest tokenized gold product in crypto, with a market cap of around $3.2 billion and backing tied to roughly 1,800 gold bars stored in Swiss vaults. Reuters reported in January that XAUt accounted for about 60% of the global gold-backed stablecoin market, underscoring how dominant the product has become as the category scales.

RWA.xyz lists BNB Chain as the second-largest chain for RWAs by distributed asset value, while BNB Chain said the network has been pulling in new asset inflows and holders over the past month. That gives Tether a larger onchain venue to push gold exposure beyond niche tokenization use cases and into mainstream crypto trading flows.

Paolo Ardoino framed the BNB Chain expansion as a way to make gold more usable in digital markets rather than leaving it as a static store of value.