Tether is extending the use of token gold XAU₮ from holding and trading to encrypted lending. Under Ledn ' s published arrangements, the platform has added support for the XAU₮, which users can now hold and trade on the platform and which will be followed by the opening of the XAU₮ loan service as collateral.
Ledn has added XAU₮ support
Ledn says that XAU₮ has been included with Bitcoin, USD₮ and USA₮ in the platform support. It is planned that XAU₮ mortgage lending will be launched later in 2026. At that time, the holder may obtain liquidity without selling token gold.
This model is similar to the existing bitcoin mortgage structure of the Platform. Users retain their exposure to lower-level assets, while obtaining stabilization currency or other funds through collateral.
Ledn also stated that the customer collateral would be held at 1:1 and would not be loaned again or used to obtain the proceeds. This arrangement responds to external concerns about collateral security and re-commitment for markets that experienced the 2022 risk event of encrypted lending platforms.
XAU₮ continues to expand.
Tether has been adding gold-related operations for the past year. The company data show that, as of 31 March 2026, the XAU₮ reserve amounted to 707,747.139 golden ounces, up from 520,089.350 gold ounces at the end of 2025.
According to Tether, the market value of XAU₮ rose from approximately $2.25 billion to over $3.3 billion in the first quarter of the year. Each XAU₮ corresponds to a gold ounce of physical gold, which is stored in a Swiss vault.
The amount of $23 billion in gold mentioned in the article corresponds to Tether's broader gold holdout. Reuters had previously reported that, as at the end of March, Tether held approximately 132 tons of gold for the USDT reserve, valued at close to $19.8 billion; the corresponding gold for XAU₮ was about 22 tons.
Moving from holding instruments to encumbered assets
Gold mortgages are not new in traditional finance, and similar models have long been used by banks and precious metals trading institutions. Tether and Ledn are now trying to move this to a chain-to-asset market where tokenization of gold is not only a tool, but also a collateral for borrowing.
For users, the attractiveness of such products is that they can retain gold price exposures while obtaining short-term liquidity without having to sell assets directly. If the service goes online as planned, the role of XAU₮ in the encryption market will be further extended to the lending scene from purely token gold products.
Tether is also continuing to increase the use of XAU₮ in recent times. Previously, Tether and Fasset had introduced Visa cards with XAU₮ back-to-back, in an attempt to extend tokenization of gold to the area of payment. At the same time, Tether has continued to invest in mining in Bitcoin, renewable energy, and AI infrastructure.