Gold allocation amid the de-dollarization wave: The dual choice of XAUT and gold ETFs

In 2026, against the backdrop of accelerating “de-dollarization” worldwide, the start of the Federal Reserve’s rate cut cycle, and continuous central bank gold purchases, more and more investors are facing the same dilemma: how to effectively allocate gold assets to hedge against inflation and fiat currency depreciation. This is not only a concern for traditional investors but also a strategic challenge for cryptocurrency holders to consider seriously. Especially as gold ETF inflows reach record highs and gold tokens are rapidly evolving, choices become both abundant and complex.

2025 Gold ETF Funds Hit Record Highs, Sustained Momentum Supports Future Growth

The gold market performed brilliantly in 2025. According to data from the World Gold Council, spot gold prices increased by approximately 65% throughout the year, reaching a record high of $4,549.96 per ounce, with over 50 new highs set during the year. By the end of 2025, spot gold closed at $4,318.65 per ounce. Despite recent phase corrections, the upward momentum remains largely intact.

More notably, global capital continued to flock to gold. As gold prices kept setting new records, unprecedented amounts of funds flowed into gold ETFs worldwide. North American funds contributed the majority of global inflows in 2025, while gold holdings in Asia nearly doubled, and Europe also showed significant allocation demand. This phenomenon reflects a renewed recognition among international investment institutions of gold’s value preservation function and indicates that gold and related assets are expected to remain strong in the near future.

Three Major Factors Supporting Future Gold Trends

The driving forces behind the continued rise in gold prices come from multiple dimensions. First, a forthcoming Supreme Court ruling on tariffs could significantly impact trade policies, thereby supporting demand for gold as a safe-haven asset. Second, ongoing geopolitical conflicts (recent actions by the US in Venezuela and other regions serve as the latest examples) provide sustained support for gold prices. Third, the Federal Reserve restarting its rate cut cycle implies declining real interest rates, creating a favorable environment for non-yielding assets like gold.

UBS Group, in its latest report, remains bullish, raising its gold target prices for Q1, Q2, and Q3 of 2026 to $5,000 per ounce (previously $4,500), and expects gold to hover around $4,800 per ounce by the end of 2026. This indicates further upside potential within the next year.

Tether’s Gold Token Breaks Through Allocation Threshold, Scudo New Unit Launches for Daily Use

In the context of rising global gold allocation demand, Tether’s gold token XAUT offers a relatively innovative solution. Compared to traditional gold ETFs or physical gold holdings, XAUT democratizes allocation through blockchain technology.

Recently, Tether introduced a new valuation unit for XAUT called Scudo, which is a significant innovation. According to official definitions, 1 Scudo is set as one-thousandth of a troy ounce of gold or one-thousandth of an XAUT token, roughly equivalent to about $4.4. This seemingly simple change actually solves practical issues users face when trading or pricing with long decimal places, making gold more practical in daily economic activities. It also significantly lowers the psychological barrier for gold asset allocation from hundreds of dollars to single digits.

Tether Gold is currently fully backed by physical gold stored in secure vaults. The launch of Scudo does not alter the underlying structure or backing method of XAUT, meaning each Scudo is still backed by real gold.

XAUT vs Gold ETF: New Asset Allocation Options for Ordinary People

XAUT and traditional gold ETFs each have their advantages. Gold ETFs benefit from institutional scale, enabling low-cost allocation, but face limitations such as regional restrictions and subscription thresholds, and are mainly traded in traditional financial markets. XAUT, based on blockchain technology, offers global, 24/7 trading with lower barriers and higher liquidity.

In terms of trading accessibility, XAUT is now listed on major centralized exchanges like Bybit, OKX, Bitget, as well as decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, Curve, and Fluid. Users can buy spot or leverage contracts anytime, with relatively ample liquidity. Its market cap of around $2.3 billion also demonstrates significant market recognition.

Liquidity and Leverage: Four Practical Advantages of XAUT Allocation

Practically speaking, choosing XAUT for gold asset allocation offers the following benefits:

Ample Market Cap and Reserves. Tether purchased 26 tons of gold in Q3 2025, bringing its total gold holdings to 116 tons, ranking among the top 30 largest gold holders globally. Behind this is Tether’s strong financial backing — the issuer of this stablecoin bought 8,888 BTC on New Year’s Eve 2025 (worth about $780 million), and regularly distributes 15% of quarterly profits into Bitcoin, demonstrating substantial capital strength.

Extremely Low Allocation Threshold. The introduction of the Scudo unit reduces the initial investment for gold assets from hundreds of dollars to single digits, making it especially friendly for investors with limited liquidity.

Rich Trading Channels. XAUT supports trading on multiple mainstream platforms, allowing users to choose CEX or DEX according to preference, combining convenience with decentralization.

Leverage Trading Options. For advanced investors, XAUT also supports contract trading with leverage, increasing capital efficiency.

From Fiat Currency Depreciation to Gold Allocation: Investment Recommendations for 2026

For most ordinary investors, the downward trend of the USD/CNY exchange rate has become a reality, and the depreciation of fiat currency purchasing power is hard to reverse. In this context, converting part of fiat into gold assets is no longer an exclusive option for high-level investors but a relatively rational asset defense strategy.

Whether through institutional-level allocation via gold ETFs, small-scale and global deployment via XAUT, or a combination of both, the core purpose remains: in an era of accelerating de-dollarization and reallocation of global liquidity, use the most certain asset—gold—to hedge against the greatest uncertainties.

From this perspective, XAUT, as a new tool for gold allocation, preserves gold’s inherent value stability while significantly lowering the participation threshold through blockchain and the innovative Scudo unit. It is worth serious consideration in your 2026 asset allocation plan.