Tether Rolls Out Scudo, Letting XAUT Be Used in Smaller On-Chain Units

• With Scudo, XAUT is broken into smaller pieces, making gold-backed tokens far more practical for on-chain use.
• The update expands XAUT utility beyond storage into payments and blockchain applications.

Tether introduced Scudo as a fresh on-chain unit for XAUT, giving tokenized gold room to move in smaller pieces. The new unit strips away the hassle of big values and messy decimals, making gold transfers on the blockchain far more manageable. With Scudo in place, XAUT becomes easier to move around and use across different on-chain activities. Scudo represents a 1/1000 slice of a troy ounce of the gold behind XAUT, giving users a far smaller unit to work with. It lets people move digital gold without wrestling with long strings of decimals. Furthermore, this simplified unit also allows developers to integrate XAUT into various on-chain flows more seamlessly. A small change to the unit has a noticeable impact on the user experience.

Introducing Scudo.
A new way to measure the value of gold on-chain. Scudo is a simple, intuitive unit that makes Tether Gold ( XAU₮) easier to use, track, and transact.

1 Scudo = 1/1000 of an XAU₮ (Gold Ounce), giving you a practical and accessible way to send and receive gold… pic.twitter.com/JLbhuUYTk2

— Tether Gold (@tethergold) January 6, 2026

Tether Scales XAUT Down as On-Chain Use Expands Additionally, the launch of the Scudo comes at a time when the value of one XAUT, representing one troy ounce of gold, is considered too large for many transaction scenarios. With this new unit, the flow of gold value becomes more flexible, both for small transfers and integration into DeFi applications. Scudo also gives XAUT room to function as a more adaptable medium of exchange, rather than being limited to a simple store of value. Scudo, though, goes beyond making the numbers easier. It reflects the direction Tether is pushing toward, where reserve-backed assets are meant to move more actively on-chain. XAUT can now circulate with greater speed and frequency, and the flow of digital gold starts to match how users actually operate today. The news of Scudo comes just days after Tether supported SQRIL to expand the stablecoin’s real-world use through a strategic investment in QR-based cross-border payments, as we previously reported. SQRIL connects stablecoins, banks, and digital wallets across emerging global payment markets, enabling on-chain usage pathways to meet daily payment needs. On the other hand, earlier this year, we highlighted Tether’s move to add 8,888 BTC, continuing its consistent accumulation strategy from quarter to quarter. These recurring purchases propelled Tether’s Bitcoin reserves into the ranks of global wallets with large holdings. Their gold story is equally impressive. At the end of November, we reported that Tether acquired 26 tons of gold in the third quarter of 2025, surpassing global central bank purchases. Its total gold reserves stand at approximately 116 tons. This gold is used as part of the reserves backing USDT and XAUT, solidifying the foundation behind its now-digitized tokenized gold product, Scudo.