(Kitco News) - Investment demand remains the driving force in the gold market as prices surpass $5,000 per ounce. But the marketplace is evolving, with tokenized gold growing in popularity as investors look to protect themselves from monetary uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and declining confidence in traditional financial hedges.
On Monday, the world’s largest gold-backed stablecoin, Tether Gold (XAU₮), published its fourth-quarter performance report, showing that it now accounts for more than half of the entire gold-backed stablecoin market.
In the report, Tether noted that last year the global digital gold market saw its valuation grow to $4 billion, up from $1.3 billion reported at the start of 2025. Specifically, XAU₮ reached a record market capitalization of more than $2.24 billion, and the tokens remain fully backed one-to-one by physical gold.
The company said that as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, Tether Gold held 520,089.35 ounces of gold in its reserves. Last year, the company sold 409,271.64 tokens, with 110,871.66 tokens still available.
In late 2025, Tether was also ranked among the top 30 global gold holders, surpassing countries such as Greece, Qatar, and Australia.
During the final quarter of last year, Tether Gold Investments, which includes Tether International Limited and TG Commodities Limited, added approximately 27 metric tons of gold to its fund exposure, exceeding the gold purchases of most individual central banks over the same period.
“Through Tether Gold, we are operating at a scale that now places the Tether Gold Investment Fund alongside sovereign gold holders, and that carries real responsibility,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “XAU₮ exists to remove ambiguity at a time when confidence in monetary systems is weakening and it is being put through a pressure test by both institutions and people. Every token represents physically held, vaulted gold that can be verified on-chain, and the market’s growth shows that investors increasingly expect tokenized assets to meet the same standards as national and institutional reserves.”
The company said it expects to see further growth through 2026 as prices push past $5,000 an ounce.
“Gold’s surge past $5,000 marks a structural shift rather than a short-term price spike,” the company said. “As inflation protection, currency debasement concerns, and sovereign risk return to the forefront, investors are increasingly seeking gold exposure that is liquid, portable, and programmable. Gold-backed stablecoins are emerging as a direct beneficiary of this shift, allowing investors to hold and move gold onchain without sacrificing transparency or settlement speed.”
