TL;DR:
- Tether will discontinue aUSDT and shut down the Alloy by Tether platform; holders have until September 17, 2026 to redeem their tokens.
- The gold-backed synthetic stablecoin never managed to scale: its market capitalization stands at roughly $1.2 million.
- The company will focus on XAU₮ and USDT, higher-liquidity and more widely adopted products, aligning with the growth of the tokenized gold market.
Tether announced the scheduled shutdown of its Alloy by Tether platform and the discontinuation of aUSDT, its dollar-denominated synthetic stablecoin backed through overcollateralization in XAUT. This decision marks the end of one of the few gold-pegged stablecoin experiments in the market. Holders of aUSDT will have until September 17, 2026 to return their tokens and recover the collateral in XAU₮. After that date, the platform will stop processing redemptions.
The company explained that the decision stems from a comprehensive review of user activity, liquidity conditions, and strategic priorities. The adoption of aUSDT never reached a meaningful volume: at the time of the announcement, its market capitalization stood at approximately $1.2 million, backed by 14.73 kilograms of gold valued at $2.2 million. The minting of new tokens has already been deactivated as a first step in the orderly wind-down.
Tether Will Focus on XAUT Growth and Tokenized Gold
The closure of aUSDT does not imply a retreat by the company from the precious metals-backed asset market — quite the opposite. XAUT remains one of the most relevant assets within the company’s ecosystem, with more than 22,000 kilograms of physical gold as backing and an estimated market capitalization of $3 billion. Between late 2025 and March 31, 2026, Tether‘s gold reserves grew from 520,089 to 707,747 troy ounces, raising their value from $2.25 billion to $3.3 billion.
CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that tokenized gold demonstrates “seriousness, scale, and reserve discipline” comparable to institutional holdings. Bybit launched options on XAUT on June 12, in what could be the first derivative instrument tied to a tokenized commodity listed on a reference exchange. In addition, Tether signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre to tokenize other commodities, drawing on a community of more than 26,000 member organizations.
This closure follows the pattern of the CNHT withdrawal in February 2026, the offshore yuan stablecoin that was also discontinued due to low utilization. The strategy aims to consolidate Tether’s model around high-liquidity products and real-world assets, discarding synthetic layers built on top of existing collateral structures.
