Tether has unveiled a new way for users to price and transfer its gold-backed token, Tether Gold (XAUT), with the launch of a unit of account called Scudo. The move is designed to make onchain gold transactions easier to understand and more practical, especially as gold prices continue to rise.
Scudo represents one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold, or one-thousandth of an XAUT token. Instead of dealing with long decimal figures when transferring small amounts of gold, users can now transact in whole or partial Scudo units. Tether says this approach simplifies pricing and reduces friction for everyday use.
The concept closely resembles Bitcoin’s use of satoshis, which allow users to divide a single bitcoin into smaller, more readable units. By applying the same logic to gold-backed tokens, Tether aims to improve usability without changing the underlying value of XAUT.
According to the company, Scudo becomes especially useful as gold prices climb. When the value of an ounce of gold rises, fractional ownership can quickly turn into awkward decimals. A standardized, smaller unit helps keep transactions clear and accessible, particularly for smaller transfers.
The timing of the rollout aligns with a strong period for gold. In 2025, gold prices reached record highs, outperforming both equity and cryptocurrency markets. While the S&P 500 gained just over 16% during the year and bitcoin finished down around 6%, spot gold surged past $4,550 in late December before settling near $4,485 in early January.
This performance has fueled growing interest in tokenized gold products. The total market value of gold-backed tokens now stands at roughly $4.3 billion, just shy of the sector’s all-time high set in December 2025. Tether Gold remains the largest offering in this category, accounting for about half of the total market capitalization.
By introducing Scudo, Tether is positioning XAUT to be more user-friendly at a time when demand for digital representations of traditional assets continues to expand.
