Tether has introduced a new unit of account aimed at improving how gold functions in the digital economy.
The move comes as global demand for gold strengthens amid inflation concerns and monetary uncertainty.
The company said the initiative focuses on usability rather than changing gold’s underlying value. It reflects a broader effort to modernize access to traditional stores of value through blockchain technology.
Scudo targets Gold’s practical limitations
Tether said it launched Scudo to make Tether Gold, known as XAUT, easier to price, transfer, and use in everyday economic activity.
According to the press release, Scudo represents one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold.
This smaller denomination aims to simplify transactions that previously required complex decimal calculations.
The firm said gold prices and demand reached record highs as investors sought protection from inflation and macroeconomic volatility.
Central bank purchases and interest-rate uncertainty also supported demand.
However, Tether noted that gold’s role as a medium of exchange declined after the global transition to fiat currencies.
Tether argued that unchecked money creation revived inflationary pressures, renewing interest in gold as a neutral store of value.
XAUT was created to address that demand by tokenizing physical gold.
Each XAUT token remains backed one-to-one by gold bars stored in secure vaults, with ownership verifiable on-chain.
Despite that structure, Tether said usability challenges persisted. Pricing goods or services in small fractions of gold proved impractical.
Scudo aims to resolve that issue by offering a more intuitive unit. The company compared the approach to Bitcoin’s use of satoshis to enable scalable payments.
Onchain Gold adoption gains momentum
Tether said Scudo does not change XAUT’s backing or collateral structure. Instead, it adds a measurement layer designed to support wider adoption.
By using Scudo, users can price transactions more naturally as gold values rise.
The company also highlighted its broader infrastructure expansion.
Tether recently released a developer-focused technology layer supporting self-custodial wallets.
These wallets allow firms, developers, and AI agents to manage XAUT, stablecoins, and Bitcoin across multiple devices and operating systems.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive, said gold continues to demonstrate its role alongside Bitcoin as a long-term store of value. He said Scudo lowers entry barriers by improving pricing clarity and transaction efficiency.
Ardoino added that user experience remains a major challenge across digital assets.
Tether said XAUT’s market capitalization doubled within months and reached new levels by December 2025.
The company attributed the growth to demand for gold exposure without traditional storage or custodial complexity.
Tether said the Scudo launch aligns with its strategy of bringing legacy assets onchain.
The goal, according to the firm, centers on making gold more divisible, transparent, and usable in a digital-first financial system.