Research summary
An XAUT token is a claim on one fine troy ounce of gold on a specific London Good Delivery bar. TG Commodities, S.A. de C.V., authorised by El Salvador’s National Commission of Digital Assets, issues it on Ethereum. Its reserves report as of 30 June 2026, which BDO Advisory Services examined to a reasonable-assurance standard, counts 707,747.139 ounces against 707,747.090 tokens and says: “The Gold Reserves are vaulted in Switzerland. The Gold Reserves are owned by the XAU₮ token holders, not by the Company.” The custodian is still unnamed. Tether Gold’s risk disclosure says only that it is a related party. XAUt0, the form found on thirteen other chains, is a different token. The USDT0 Network, run by Everdawn Labs, mints it against XAUT locked in an adapter contract on Ethereum that a 3-of-5 Safe owns. Tether Gold’s terms say a third party’s wrapped or bridged token is not a Gold Token. An XAUt0 holder reaches gold only by burning XAUt0 for XAUT and then dealing with Tether Gold. The adverse assessment stands, and the new evidence moves it further from approval, not closer. Two earlier points have softened: the vault country is now on the record, and the reserve check is stronger than the earlier memo said. Three findings are new and cut the other way. The 3-of-6 multisig that owns USDT on Ethereum also owns XAUT, and the contract lets it block any address, burn that address’s balance, mint, and replace the code; on 2026-02-17 it blocked one address and burned its 12 XAUT. Redemption comes only in whole bars of 430 tokens, delivered in Switzerland or sold by a broker, so a smaller holder cannot redeem at all. And U.S. persons may not hold a Gold Token Wallet unless Tether Gold accepts them as Eligible Contract Participants, which shuts most clients of a U.S. adviser out of buying from or redeeming with Tether Gold. Their only exit is a sale on an exchange or a DEX. A physically backed gold ETF gives the same metal with daily creation and redemption and no issuer that can burn the holding.
Observable review triggers
- Tether Gold names its custodian, and an independent review shows the bars are out of reach of the custodian’s and Tether’s creditors
- Tether Gold opens redemption to U.S. persons who are not Eligible Contract Participants, or below one 430-token bar
- The XAUT owner changes from the 3-of-6 MultiSigWallet 0xC6CD…A828, the proxy points at a new implementation, or the owner burns another blocked balance
- A reserves report shows fewer ounces than tokens, is missed, changes firm, or drops to limited assurance
- Tether Gold names XAUt0 in its terms, or XAUT held in the OFT Adapter falls below XAUt0 supply across all chains
- Any sanctions or AML enforcement action lands against Tether or TG Commodities
Facts on file
- Verdict
- Rejected
- Type
- Tokenized commodities
- Chains examined
- Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BSC, Celo, Conflux, Hyperliquid L1, Ink, Monad, Plasma, Polygon, Solana, Stable, TON
- Instruments
- XAUT, XAUt0
- Reviewed
- Last confirmed