Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino says CBDCs could turn money into a surveillance tool (3:11)
Tether, the crypto company well-known for its stablecoins, announced on Feb. 17 that Elemental Royalty Corporation (Nasdaq: ELE), a publicly traded gold royalty company, will offer select shareholders the option to receive their dividend in the form of Tether Gold (XAUT) tokens.
This is the first-ever instance of a public gold company offering shareholders the option to receive dividends in tokenized gold, Tether said.
Related: Top gold holder doubles down on precious metal
What is XAUT?
Tether's XAUT is a digital asset backed by physical gold, which combines the long-term stability of gold with the efficiency, accessibility, and transferability of blockchain technology.
It is available as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and as a TRC20 token on the TRON blockchain.
The allocated gold is identifiable with a unique serial number, purity, and weight and is redeemable in the form of physical gold.
One XAUT is backed by one fine troy ounce of physical gold. It meets the Good Delivery standard of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
XAUT accounted for approximately 60% of the total gold-backed stablecoin supply, Tether earlier said.
More News:
Gold giant becomes major buyer of U.S. debt
S&P downgrades Tether to lowest rating
Former White House advisor reveals 2026 plan to buy massive U.S. debt
Elemental Royalty shareholders can receive dividends in Tether's XAUT
Elemental Royalty Corporation said it anticipates that qualifying registered shareholders will be able to elect to receive their dividend in the form of Tether's XAUT tokens, of par value to the dividend price.
With dividends in XAUT, Elemental Royalty shareholders gain direct gold exposure instead of cash equivalents, aligning dividend distributions more closely with the underlying asset.
Elemental Royalty CEO David M. Cole said,
“The decision to offer investors a dividend in kind, in the form of Tether Gold, further differentiates Elemental as a forward-thinking, growth-oriented investment.”
Elemental Royalty executive chairman Juan Sartori said,
“We believe the initiation of this dividend policy is a world first for a royalty company.”
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said,
“Gold has always been one of the most trusted stores of value in the world, yet integrating it directly into modern financial distribution models has been difficult... Using XAUT for shareholder dividends changes that dynamic completely.”
As per CoinGecko, XAUT was trading at $4,870.27 at press time. With a market cap of $2.5 billion, it is the largest tokenized gold coin.
Related: 64-year-old Wall Street firm flags unusual gold accumulation