(Kitco News) – Tether Gold (XAU₮), the world’s leading tokenized gold product by market cap, continued its rapid growth in the first quarter of 2026 as record prices and persistent macroeconomic uncertainty strengthened investor demand for safe-haven assets, according to the latest data from Tether.
At the end of 2025, XAU₮ was backed by 520,089.35 fine troy ounces of physical gold – but by March 31, 2026, the total gold reserve had risen to 707,747.14 ounces – an increase of 36% in three months, the company announced on Monday. The market value also rose from approximately US$2.25 billion to more than US$3.3 billion, and the number of tokens sold reached 559,598.64 XAU₮.
Tether said the numbers show a larger base of physical gold backing XAU₮ at a time when more investors are seeking direct gold exposure in digital form.
“Tether Gold is proving that tokenized commodities can operate with the same seriousness, scale, and reserve discipline expected from major institutional holdings,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Gold has always been a trusted asset during periods of uncertainty, but XAU₮ gives it a new form of utility. It allows people and institutions to hold direct exposure to physical gold while benefiting from the transparency, portability, and accessibility of blockchain-based assets.”
“The growth we saw in the first quarter shows that demand for real, verifiable, tokenized reserves is only getting stronger,” he added.
Tether said that while gold has long served as a hedge during periods of uncertainty, the scale and speed of inflows into XAU₮ suggest something more structural is underway.
“Investors are increasingly seeking programmable, liquid access to gold,” the company said in the statement. “The growth of XAU₮ reflects a broader re-pricing of gold’s role in modern portfolios, shifting from a passive store of value to an active, fully collateralized financial instrument that can be transferred and settled in real time.”
“XAU₮ tokens are issued only after the corresponding physical gold bars have completed the custodian’s intake procedure,” the company said. The gold reserves are held in Switzerland and meet the London Good Delivery standards set by the London Bullion Market Association.
“The reserves are held by the custodian on behalf of XAU₮ token holders, and the gold reserves are owned by XAU₮ token holders, not by the Company,” they added.
While Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market have seen a significant decline since last year’s all-time highs, the tokenized gold market has been a bright spot in the digital marketplace, according to Swyftx Pty Ltd, an Australian-based cryptocurrency trading platform.
According to the company’s latest quarterly report released in late April, the total crypto market cap fell approximately 40% from its peak in the first quarter of 2026.
However, tokenized commodities, led by the gold market, saw significant growth in the first three months of the new year.
“Adoption of blockchain-based gold tokens grew 2.6x faster than its physical counterpart, with the market cap for tokenized gold surpassing $5 billion USD for the first time,” analysts at Swyftx said in the report.
The solid growth in tokenized gold comes after its market cap grew by 65% last year.
The report added that Tether Gold (XAUt) continues to lead the charge, representing 45% of the total market share. XAUt saw 40% growth in Total Value Locked (TVL) in the first quarter.
In an interview with Kitco News, Kurt Hemecker, CEO of Gold Token S.A., the tokenization arm of precious metals giant MKS PAMP, said that he sees significant appetite for digitized real-world assets, and gold continues to lead the way.
“In general, we're still feeling a pretty bullish attitude from institutions, as they're diving into this market,” he said.
Although the market has seen significant growth in the last year, Hemecker pointed out that the tokenized gold market is still just a small segment of the massive $23 trillion gold market, but he expects demand will continue to grow.
