2026 Investment in Gold: Why Tether's Gold Token XAUT is Worth Including in Your Portfolio

Inflation clouds, US dollar depreciation, geopolitical risks—how can assets be protected by 2026? More and more investors are beginning to consider investing in gold, an ancient and reliable choice. However, traditional gold investment methods face high barriers and poor liquidity. At this moment, a new solution has emerged: the gold token XAUT launched by Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, which is redefining the way gold investment is approached.

Gold Becomes the Most Shining Asset of 2025; Why Is It Still Worth Investing in Gold in 2026?

Looking back at 2025, gold’s performance was truly remarkable. According to the World Gold Council, spot gold rose approximately 65% throughout the year, hitting over 50 all-time highs, and reaching a record high of $4,549.96 per ounce. In comparison, silver performed even more vigorously, with a 150% increase for the year. This is not a fleeting market trend but a long-term trend supported by deep logical reasons.

Global investors injected unprecedented funds into gold ETFs in 2025. North American funds led the global capital inflows, Asian gold holdings nearly doubled, and European demand was also significant. Of the $2.3 billion in global stablecoin trading volume, a substantial portion involved gold-related investments, reflecting a shared recognition among institutions and retail investors: gold has become a core asset for risk hedging.

UBS Group’s latest outlook is even more encouraging. The top-tier global investment bank raised its gold target prices for three quarters in 2026 to $5,000 per ounce (previously expected to be $4,500), predicting that by the end of 2026, gold prices will retrace to $4,800. This indicates that within the next year, gold still has a 15-20% upside potential.

Multiple factors support the strengthening of gold. The World Gold Council points out that changes in US policies, ongoing geopolitical conflicts, central banks’ continued gold purchases, and the Fed’s rate cut cycle amid global “de-dollarization” will all provide sustained support for gold prices. In such an environment, investing in gold has shifted from an optional choice to a necessary one.

Gold Tokens vs. Traditional Gold Investment: Why Does XAUT Stand Out?

Traditional gold investment options include physical gold, paper gold, gold funds, and gold futures. However, each has its pain points: physical gold incurs high storage costs and poor liquidity; paper gold and futures have high barriers and are unfriendly to retail investors; gold funds face management fee issues.

Tether’s gold token XAUT breaks through these limitations. Each token is fully backed by physical gold stored in secure vaults, with 100% support, and each XAUT corresponds to real gold assets. More importantly, the entry barrier for XAUT has been drastically lowered to just a few dollars, democratizing access to gold investment.

In Q3 2025, Tether purchased 26 tons of gold, bringing its total gold holdings to 116 tons, ranking among the top 30 largest gold holders worldwide. This not only enhances the credibility backing of XAUT but also demonstrates Tether’s firm confidence in gold assets. Meanwhile, as the absolute leader in the global stablecoin industry, Tether’s total trading volume in 2025 reached $13.3 trillion, far exceeding industry averages. This scale and liquidity advantage are unmatched by other issuers.

Four Major Advantages of XAUT: A Comprehensive Overview from Market Cap to Leverage

Advantage 1: Strong Capital and Reserve Support

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that at the end of 2025, the company purchased 8,888 Bitcoin, worth about $780 million, increasing its publicly held Bitcoin to 96,000 BTC. Additionally, Tether regularly allocates 15% of quarterly profits to Bitcoin reserves and continues to increase gold holdings. This dual-asset strategy fully demonstrates Tether’s financial strength and recognition of long-term value. Backed by 116 tons of gold and with a market cap of around $2.3 billion, XAUT ensures ample liquidity.

Advantage 2: Revolutionary Scudo Accounting Unit

The pain point of using gold tokens has long been handling complex decimal calculations. Tether recently introduced a solution—Scudo. One Scudo is defined as one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold, approximately $4.4. This innovative approach introduces a more intuitive pricing method, allowing users to avoid dealing with long decimal places during transactions, greatly enhancing the practicality of gold tokens in daily economic activities. The launch of Scudo does not change XAUT’s structure or backing; it is purely an optimization from the user experience perspective.

Advantage 3: Liquidity Across Major Trading Ecosystems

XAUT is listed on mainstream centralized exchanges such as Bybit, OKX, and Bitget, and also supports decentralized platforms like Uniswap, Fluid, and Curve. This comprehensive ecosystem coverage ensures that investors can easily participate regardless of their preferred trading method. More importantly, XAUT supports spot purchases and leveraged contracts, catering to different risk appetites.

Advantage 4: Absolute Leadership in the Stablecoin Market

According to Bloomberg citing Artemis Analytics, the global stablecoin trading volume surged 72% in 2025, reaching a record $33 trillion. Among them, Circle’s USDC traded $18.3 trillion, and Tether’s USDT traded $13.3 trillion, accounting for the majority of stablecoin activity. Tether’s dominant position in the stablecoin sector and its high profitability provide strong support for the growth of XAUT. In 2026, the industry application of gold tokens is expected to further expand.

How to Start Investing in Gold Token XAUT: Practical Guide

For most ordinary investors with limited liquidity and relatively low risk appetite, allocating to gold tokens XAUT has become a serious consideration. Especially against the backdrop of the continuous decline of USD/CNY exchange rate, converting part of fiat currency into gold tokens can effectively hedge against exchange rate and inflation risks.

Investing in XAUT is now very convenient. Whether through centralized exchanges, decentralized platforms, or leveraged contracts for speculation, investors can choose the most suitable approach based on their circumstances. The low entry threshold of just a few dollars further eliminates the traditional barriers to gold investment.

It is worth noting that although investing in gold tokens shares the stability features of gold assets, as a crypto asset, XAUT’s price remains influenced by market sentiment. Investors should allocate positions reasonably according to their risk tolerance.

Summary

2026 is a year full of uncertainties. Inflation expectations, geopolitical risks, monetary policy adjustments—these factors point in the same direction: a reassessment of the value of traditional financial assets. Gold, as the oldest store of value in history, once again becomes the investor’s top choice. Tether’s gold token XAUT, by combining this ancient asset with modern blockchain technology, offers ordinary investors a new way to invest in gold.

Supported by strong capital, innovative technology, widespread liquidity, and industry leadership, XAUT has established a clear competitive advantage in the gold token arena. For investors seeking to preserve and grow assets through gold investment, this is undoubtedly a direction worth exploring and seriously considering.