Tether Launches Scudo to Simplify Fractional Gold Ownership Onchain

Tether has introduced a new unit of account tied to its digital gold token, XAUT, in a move aimed at lowering barriers to fractional gold ownership at a time when institutional investors and central banks are accumulating the precious metal at record levels.

On Tuesday, the stablecoin issuer unveiled Scudo, a unit of account representing one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold. 

Each Scudo corresponds to 1/1,000 of an XAUT token, Tether’s gold-backed asset. XAUT is supported by more than 1,300 gold bars held in custody and currently has a market capitalization of roughly $2.3 billion, according to Tether. 

Tether said the introduction of Scudo is designed to make gold ownership more accessible. While gold has long been viewed as a reliable store of value, direct ownership has historically been constrained by storage, custody and divisibility issues. 

Although XAUT already addressed many of those challenges by tokenizing physical gold, Scudo is intended to further simplify smaller, onchain transactions backed by the metal.

According to the company, the move represents a step toward making gold more easily transactable on modern digital rails, rather than serving solely as a long-term store of value.

Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive, described gold as “the ultimate store of value alongside Bitcoin,” following a record-breaking year for bullion prices, which climbed above $4,550 per troy ounce. 

In a social media post, Ardoino compared Scudo to satoshis, the smallest unit of account for Bitcoin (BTC).

Related: Tether solvency fears are ‘misplaced’ as company sits on large surplus: CoinShares

The new gold rush

Precious metals posted a record year in 2025, with gold prices rising roughly 65% amid renewed de-dollarization efforts, aggressive central bank purchases and persistent inflation concerns among investors.

The rally extended beyond gold. Silver prices climbed more than 140% during the year, reaching about $80 per troy ounce, underscoring broader momentum across the metals complex.

Economist Peter Schiff described the surge as a sign that investors are bracing for what he called “the greatest inflation in US history,” even as recent readings of the Consumer Price Index pointed to moderating inflation trends.

Gold’s advance also highlighted a divergence with Bitcoin, which finished the year lower and showed limited evidence of safe-haven demand. The contrast was particularly pronounced in the fourth quarter, following a broad deleveraging event triggered by the Oct. 10 market crash.

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets