Tether wants its gold token to rival ETFs

Anchorage Digital’s support for Tether Gold gives eligible institutional clients routes to sell or borrow against XAUT as Paolo Ardoino promotes it as a gold-ETF challenger. The competitive test is how readily those routes deliver funds at the size and price a holder needs.

In Tether’s November 12 announcement, its CEO said he believes XAUT is on track to become “the first true competitor to the gold ETF market.” A day earlier, Anchorage announced custody, principal-desk trading and collateral support for the gold-backed token. Like gold-trust shareholders, token holders still depend on counterparties to turn that exposure into funds.

Tether said KPMG U.S. audited issuer TG Commodities S.A. de C.V.’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, issuing an unqualified opinion. The announced audit concerns that entity and year, rather than all current Tether reserves or today’s trading and financing terms.

For eligible clients, desk-sale proceeds come from the trading counterparty. Anchorage advertises USD or USDT borrowing against bank-custodied XAUT through arrangements with other clients. Borrowing preserves gold exposure but creates debt; the announcement does not establish bank-funded lending. It also specifies neither a universal sale settlement currency nor a fiat-withdrawal timetable.

Anchorage says it holds XAUT at Anchorage Digital Bank in the US or Anchorage Digital Singapore. The group’s footer names Anchorage Hold LLC as digital-asset trading provider, Anchorage Digital NY LLC for New York agency trading and A1 Ltd. as a principal-trading business. It does not identify one universal trade-contract entity.

Access is institutional, with limited high-net-worth availability and further requirements for certain trading. Custodied tokens lack Anchorage guarantees and FDIC or SIPC protection. Custody therefore provides neither an insured gold deposit nor assured liquidity.

Anchorage’s notice says US persons cannot purchase or redeem XAUT with TG Commodities. The issuer’s terms contain a qualification: US counterparties qualifying as eligible contract participants, a regulatory category, may be accepted at Tether Gold’s sole discretion. Direct purchases and redemptions also require verified issuer-customer status.

Platform eligibility, issuer eligibility and issuer acceptance are separate gates. Neither institutional access at Anchorage nor eligible-contract-participant status alone establishes the issuer’s acceptance. Anchorage’s notice addresses issuer transactions, rather than a blanket ban on permitted secondary trading or custody.

Even an eligible, verified issuer customer does not have an unconditional cash buyback. The terms describe whole-bar redemption for delivery in Switzerland. Instead of taking delivery, a customer can request that Tether Gold attempt a sale to a gold dealer or broker. Only a successful sale produces fiat proceeds, less fees; Tether Gold has no obligation to repurchase the tokens or bullion. That route also needs a buyer.

IAU holders use intermediaries too

The iShares Gold Trust product page describes IAU shares trading on NYSE Arca through brokerage accounts. For an ordinary share sale, a market buyer supplies the money through the brokerage transaction. The trust is not paying the retail holder cash for redeeming a share.

Its currently linked prospectus, dated December 22, 2022, reserves creation and redemption of baskets to authorized participants, with gold exchanged for shares. Retail sale access and direct redemption access are different rights in this structure as well.

Borrowing without selling is also available within conventional brokerage arrangements, subject to approval. Fidelity’s margin FAQ lists ETFs held for at least 30 days as eligible collateral, with special security and account requirements, and says checkwriting, bank cards and bill payments can create or increase margin debt. That general policy establishes neither IAU-specific approval nor a particular borrowing limit.

Follow the funds

The trading counterparty or market buyer supplies sale proceeds. The desk or broker provides the route.

A sale needs a buyer; a loan needs a lender. Custody alone guarantees neither.

Anchorage notice excludes US direct issuer transactions; issuer terms allow discretionarily accepted US ECPs after verification. Neither custody nor ECP status establishes issuer acceptance. IAU trust redemption is AP-only for gold. Fidelity policy does not establish IAU-specific credit. Sale currencies, fiat withdrawal timing and loan terms remain client-specific.

Sources and evidence

Sources

1. Anchorage support and client arrangements
2. IAU secondary-market access
3. IAU authorized-participant redemption
4. Fidelity general margin rules
5. Issuer eligibility and redemption terms

Supporting facts

• Reported statement Anchorage’s November 11 announcement says institutions can hold XAUT at Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., buy and sell through its principal desk, and pledge bank-custodied XAUT in arrangements with other Anchorage Digital Bank clients. [1]
• Reported statement Anchorage advertises borrowing USD or USDT against XAUT while retaining gold-price exposure; the announcement describes collateral arrangements between clients, not a bank-funded loan program. [1]
• Anchorage’s notice says US persons cannot purchase or redeem XAUT with TG Commodities, while the issuer’s terms exclude US persons from issuer services except eligible contract participants accepted at its sole discretion. [1] [5]
• For an eligible XAUT sale through Anchorage’s principal desk, the trading counterparty supplies sale proceeds; for a collateral arrangement with another client, that financing counterparty supplies funds and the borrower incurs a repayment obligation. [1]
• IAU shares trade on NYSE Arca and can be bought or sold through brokerage accounts; the trust permits creation and redemption only by authorized participants in baskets, in exchange for gold. [2] [3]
• For a retail IAU secondary-market sale, cash comes from a market buyer through the brokerage trade rather than direct trust redemption. [2] [3]
• TG Commodities’ terms require verified issuer-customer status for direct purchases/redemptions and reserve a discretionary exception for US eligible contract participants; custody or trading eligibility at Anchorage does not by itself establish that status. [5] [1]
• Under the issuer’s terms, an eligible verified customer redeems at whole-bar scale for Swiss delivery or may request an attempted sale to a gold dealer/broker; fiat proceeds follow only if that sale succeeds, less fees, and Tether Gold has no obligation to repurchase tokens or bullion. [5]
• Fidelity lists ETFs held at least 30 days as eligible margin collateral, subject to special security/account requirements, and says checkwriting, bank cards and bill payments can create or increase a margin loan; the FAQ does not establish IAU-specific eligibility or terms. [4]

Method

Qualitative cash-direction diagram from the reported service mechanisms. Arrows show direction, not volume, speed or guaranteed availability. The borrowing panel compares client financing with a general brokerage margin route.

Scope

Anchorage notice excludes US direct issuer transactions; issuer terms allow discretionarily accepted US ECPs after verification. Neither custody nor ECP status establishes issuer acceptance. IAU trust redemption is AP-only for gold. Fidelity policy does not establish IAU-specific credit. Sale currencies, fiat withdrawal timing and loan terms remain client-specific.

Infographic by CryptoSlate

CryptoSlate’s July analysis of XAUT lending already examined the comparison with brokerage margin and restricted gold-trust redemption. Anchorage’s offering extends the institutional service set; collateral utility alone does not make tokenized gold unique.

The measurable comparison remains uneven. iShares reported 9,023,902 IAU shares traded on November 13 and a 0.01% 30-day median bid/ask spread as of that date. Anchorage calls XAUT its most active tokenized-gold product, but its announcement supplies no comparable depth series, quoted spreads or executed lending totals.

Ardoino’s ETF challenge ultimately turns on usable access: a client who qualifies, a counterparty willing to transact and terms that deliver the funds required. Custody and collateral support create routes. Their availability at the needed size and price is the next test.