News

Tether, the largest company in the digital assets industry, announced today that 
Tether Gold (XAU₮) has been recognized as an Accepted Spot Commodity within ADGM, the international financial center of Abu Dhabi. The recognition allows firms in ADGM to offer XAU₮, subject to their own relevant regulatory permissions and approval to use Accepted Spot Commodities.

The approval follows continued close engagement with ADGM to demonstrate the resilience, transparency, and compliance-focused approach of Tether’s operations, and gives firms in ADGM a clearer path to offer services involving XAU₮ within a regulated framework. It also marks another step in Tether’s expanding presence in the UAE, where digital asset policy continues to move from experimentation toward practical, institution-ready use cases.

XAU₮ brings physical gold on chain in a simple, transferable form. Each full XAU₮ token represents one troy fine ounce of gold on a London Good Delivery bar, giving users and institutions a way to access the enduring value of gold with the speed, portability, and transparency of blockchain technology. 

“The UAE continues to show real leadership in digital asset regulation, and Tether is proud to keep building alongside that progress,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “By bringing XAU₮ into its Spot Commodities framework, ADGM is creating new room for firms with the relevant regulatory permissions to work with a token backed by physical gold. This is an important step for tokenized real-world assets and for the growth of practical, regulated digital finance in the Middle East.” 

"ADGM continues to advance a trusted, well-regulated environment that enables responsible innovation across digital assets and tokenised real-world assets,” said Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM. “The recognition of XAU₮ as an Accepted Spot Commodity further strengthens the breadth of products and services available to firms operating from ADGM, supporting the continued scaling of business activity within ADGM and Abu Dhabi’s growing financial ecosystem.” 

The recognition of XAU₮ builds on the Financial Services Regulatory Authority’s previous recognition of USD₮ as an Accepted Fiat Referenced Token and expands the range of Tether products that authorized firms in ADGM can support. Additionally, it shows how direct engagement between regulators and digital asset companies can help bring real-world assets on chain in a way that supports compliance, transparency, and market integrity. 

Demand for tokenized real-world assets continues to grow as institutions look for more efficient ways to access, move, and manage traditional assets. Tokenized real-world assets now represent more than $31 billion in distributed asset value, up from roughly $6.6 billion a year earlier. XAU₮ brings that model to gold, combining physical backing with the speed and portability of a digital token.

Tether will continue working with regulators, licensed firms, and partners in the UAE and across the region to support responsible digital asset adoption.