Tether Teams Up With Ledn to Add Tokenized Gold XAUT to Its Lending Platform

Tether and crypto lender Ledn are partnering to expand tokenized gold's role in digital-asset lending. Announced June 18, the deal brings Tether Gold (XAUT) onto Ledn's platform alongside Bitcoin and stablecoins, with gold-backed lending products slated to arrive later. Ledn users can now buy, sell, and custody XAUT directly on the platform. Each XAUT token represents one fine troy ounce of gold. Tether reports 707,747 ounces currently backing the same number of tokens in circulation. Ledn expects to introduce gold-backed loans in 2026, with borrowing denominated in Tether's stablecoins. Clients will be able to choose between USDT and the newly launched USAT. Ledn says it follows a 1:1 collateral policy and does not rehypothecate or lend out assets backing customer deposits. The forthcoming lending product will not be available to residents of Canada or the EU. On the reserves side, Tether says it manages a gold stockpile estimated at 140 to 154 metric tons, worth about $23 billion. XAUT's market capitalization recently topped $3 billion, making it one of the largest commodity-backed tokens in crypto. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pointed to "growing demand for solutions that combine long-term ownership with financial flexibility" as a key driver of the partnership. For investors, the integration lands as crypto lending continues to rebuild credibility after the 2022 collapses of firms including Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager, where aggressive rehypothecation and opaque risk controls triggered rapid failures. Ledn weathered that shakeout, helped by its more conservative collateral practices. In tokenized gold, Paxos Gold (PAXG) remains XAUT's closest rival and currently does not offer a comparable lending tie-in. The inclusion of USAT as a loan denomination option also signals a broader strategy from Tether to link its products into a tighter ecosystem.