Crypto lender Ledn is adding support for Tether Gold (XAUT) stablecoin, allowing customers to hold, trade and eventually borrow against the tokenized bullion product as the company expands beyond its core Bitcoin-backed lending business.
The launch will enable clients to use XAUT as collateral under the same framework Ledn applies to Bitcoin (BTC) loans.
"People who hold hard assets should be able to access liquidity without selling what they want to keep," Ledn co-founder Adam Reeds told Sandmark. "Bitcoin proved that model. Gold is the other hard asset people have trusted for generations, so bringing Tether Gold onto the same platform was a natural next step."
The move comes as digital asset firms increasingly explore ways to use tokenized versions of traditional assets as collateral for lending and other financial services.
The global gold-backed stablecoin market cap is estimated at $5bn as of 17 Jun, up from roughly 1.3bn in early 2025. XAUT is currently the largest gold-backed token by market capitalization, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the sector's total value.
Ledn said it has no revenue-sharing arrangement with Tether tied to the integration. Tether became a strategic investor in Ledn in November 2025 through an investment reported to be worth $50mn, valuing the lender at roughly $500mn. The stablecoin issuer operates USDT stablecoin, the world's largest dollar-pegged token.
Selective approach
Rather than broadening its offering across a growing list of digital assets, Ledn said the addition of gold reflects a deliberate focus on assets it views as long-term stores of value.
"We are deliberately selective," he said. "We add an asset only when it clears a high bar on utility, scarcity and risk management, and most do not. This is about depth in the assets that matter to our clients, not breadth for its own sake."
Ledn, founded in 2018, says it has originated more than $10bn in loans and built its business around Bitcoin-backed credit. Bitcoin remains central to the platform despite the addition of gold-backed products, according to the company.
Tether Gold is backed by physical bullion held in Swiss vaults, with each token representing one troy ounce of gold. Tether has said the token is backed by approximately $23bn worth of gold reserves.
Risk framework
Reeds said XAUT-backed loans will operate under the same custody and risk-management framework that Ledn uses for Bitcoin lending. While the operating model will remain unchanged, loan terms will be adjusted to reflect differences between gold and Bitcoin.
"Gold and Bitcoin have different volatility profiles, so the loan-to-value and the way we help clients manage a position before it reaches liquidation will reflect that," Reeds said. "The discipline is identical, and the settings are tuned to each asset."
The products are being rolled out across most jurisdictions where Ledn operates, though not currently available in Canada or the European Union.
Beyond trading
The launch aligns with broader efforts within the gold industry to expand the use of tokenized bullion beyond trading. The World Gold Council has identified lending and collateralization as key areas for future growth in digital gold markets.
Speaking with Sandmark at the Consensus 2026 conference, World Gold Council chief executive David Tait said one of the main challenges facing gold-backed tokens has been a lack of practical use cases beyond price exposure.
"We expect a whole string of products to be generated, like redemption tokens and collateralization tokens, lending tokens," Tait said, adding that broader utility could help drive adoption of digital gold products.
The Council is separately working on a common infrastructure for tokenized gold designed to standardize custody and redemption processes across the industry. Tait said the effort aims to address the fragmentation that has limited adoption of existing gold-backed tokens despite rising investor demand for the metal.
The spot price of gold is $4,271.60 per ounce, down roughly 2.43% at 14:11 UTC on 18 Jun.
