Tether said on June 17 that it will discontinue Alloy by Tether and its gold-backed derivative stablecoin aUSDT. Users must return their aUSDT by Sept. 17 to redeem the XAUT tokens posted as collateral. The company has already stopped new position openings and the minting of new aUSDT.
aUSDT ends after roughly two years
Launched in June 2024, aUSDT was structured like an overcollateralized stablecoin used in DeFi. Users could lock XAUT and mint aUSDT against it, with the value of collateral required to exceed the value of aUSDT issued. The setup allowed holders to keep gold exposure while accessing dollar-like liquidity.
According to Tether, aUSDT has a market capitalization of about $1.2 million. It is backed by 14.73 kilograms of gold, worth roughly $2.2 million, as overcollateralized support. Existing users have a three-month window to unwind positions and complete redemptions.
Tether shifts focus to XAUT and core products
Tether said the decision followed a review of user activity, market demand and the company’s broader priorities. It plans to allocate resources to products with stronger demand, deeper liquidity and larger long-term market opportunities, including XAUT and other core parts of its ecosystem.
XAUT remains the company’s main gold-token product. Tether said the token now has a market value of $3 billion and is backed by 22,169 kilograms of physical gold. In February, the company also bought a 12% stake in precious metals platform Gold.com for $150 million, with plans to integrate XAUT into that platform.
Another product exit in a broader lineup reset
aUSDT is not the only product Tether has ended this year. In February, the company said it would stop issuing CNHT, its yuan-pegged stablecoin, citing changes in market conditions, weak product interest and limited community demand. In November last year, Tether also ended EURT because of European regulatory issues and redirected resources to Hadron, its asset tokenization platform launched in 2024.
At the same time, Tether has not pulled back from fiat-linked stablecoins across the board. In May, it announced a partnership with the Georgian government to launch GELT, a stablecoin tied to the Georgian lari.
Tether keeps expanding beyond stablecoins
Stablecoins remain central to Tether, but the company has also widened its investment scope to bitcoin mining infrastructure, AI, cloud computing and robotics. On June 11, Tether led a $1 billion financing round for German robotics company NEURA. The shutdown of aUSDT adds to a pattern: Tether is cutting smaller products with weaker demand while directing capital and attention to gold tokens and newer technology bets.