Crypto lender Ledn announced on June 18, 2026 that it will accept XAUT, Tether's tokenized gold product, as collateral for loans, letting holders borrow in USDT or USAt against physical bullion without selling their position.
The integration brings Tether's approximately 140-metric-tonne gold stockpile, valued at roughly $23 billion, into on-chain credit infrastructure for the first time.
XAUT collateral pool is $2.49 billion
XAUT had a circulating supply of 612,823 tokens as of June 27, 2026. Each token represents one troy ounce of fine gold held in Swiss vaults. Its market cap was $2.49 billion, setting the current ceiling for the collateral pool.
Tether's total corporate gold position, stored in Switzerland and attested separately, is roughly six times larger than the amount currently tokenized. That leaves room for the program to grow if XAUT issuance expands.
Ledn will hold XAUT collateral 1:1
The loan mechanics mirror Ledn's existing bitcoin model: collateral is held 1:1 and not rehypothecated or lent out. Ledn co-founder Adam Reeds said, "Bitcoin stays at the center of how our clients build wealth. Gold sits beside it."
The product will be unavailable to Canadian and EU residents. Tether made a strategic investment in Ledn in November 2025, ahead of the integration.
Gold-denominated loans are planned, not live
Gold-denominated loans, paying out in a gold stablecoin rather than dollars, are planned for later in 2026 but are not yet live. The planned product would move the model beyond pledging gold for dollar loans by letting borrowers take on gold-denominated debt.
XAUT changes the BTC-backed lending profile
XAUT differs from BTC-backed loans in a structural way. Gold is less volatile than bitcoin, which lowers forced-liquidation risk, but it produces no yield.
A bitcoin borrower can theoretically offset loan costs against staking or lending income. A gold borrower cannot. That gives XAUT-backed credit a different risk profile and may draw holders who want liquidity against a store-of-value position rather than yield optimization.
Ledn has originated more than $10 billion in total loans since its founding in 2018.