Tether expands tokenised gold lending with Ledn

• Tether is expanding the utility of Tether Gold (XAU₮) by enabling tokenised gold holdings on Ledn, with gold-backed loans expected later this year.
• The initiative allows users to access liquidity against tokenised gold without selling their underlying bullion-backed assets.
• The move forms part of Tether's broader strategy to expand XAU₮ alongside investments in Bitcoin mining, artificial intelligence and infrastructure.

Tether is expanding the use of Tether Gold (XAU₮) by integrating the tokenised gold asset into the Ledn lending platform, where users will initially be able to hold and trade XAU₮ before gaining access to gold-backed loans later this year.

The planned lending product will allow users to borrow against XAU₮ without selling their underlying tokenised gold, following a structure similar to Ledn's existing Bitcoin-backed lending products.

"As digital assets become an increasingly important part of the global economy, demand is growing for solutions that combine long-term ownership with financial flexibility," Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said.

Ledn said customer collateral will continue to be held on a one-to-one basis and will not be rehypothecated or used to generate yield, reflecting a more conservative custody model following failures in the cryptocurrency lending sector during 2022.

Tether said XAU₮ reserves increased to 707,747.139 fine troy ounces by March 31, 2026, up from 520,089.350 ounces at the end of 2025, while the token's market value grew from approximately US$2.25 billion to more than US$3.3 billion during the first quarter.

The broader gold position supporting Tether's products totals approximately US$23 billion, including around 132 metric tonnes of gold held for USDT reserves and about 22 tonnes backing XAU₮.

The Ledn integration forms part of Tether's wider strategy to expand practical use cases for tokenised gold alongside investments in Bitcoin mining, renewable energy, artificial intelligence infrastructure and digital asset services.