Tether’s gold-backed stablecoin, Tether Gold (XAUT), reached a $770 million market capitalization as of April 28, according to the company’s first attestation under El Salvador’s financial regulations.

«While central banks are stacking up hundreds of tons of gold, XAUt is set to become the standard tokenized gold product for the people and institutions,» Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted on X.

The token is backed 1:1 by 246,523.33 ounces — over 7.7 tons — of physical gold stored in a dedicated Swiss vault, said Tether.

Each XAUT token represents one troy ounce of LBMA-certified gold. Tether said it applies strict controls, including gold bar verification and periodic audits, to maintain trust in the token’s backing.

The attestation comes at a time when global investors are increasingly turning to gold as a hedge against economic instability and rising geopolitical risks.

Central banks, particularly across BRICS nations, have been buying gold at record levels, accumulating over 1,044 metric tons in 2024 alone, according to the World Gold Council.

The yellow metal has touched numerous record highs in 2025 amid an ongoing rally that’s seen its price gain about 27% year-to-date. It’s currently trading at $3,343 per ounce, having more than doubled since November 2022.

Tether emphasized that unlike other tokenized gold products, XAUT is physically backed and regulated, positioning it as a safer option for users wary of «paper gold» exposure.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

Bitcoin (BTC) miners’ first-quarter results may disappoint because the hashprice, a measure of daily mining profitability, fell further and trade tariffs weighed on the market, asset manager CoinShares (CS) said in a blog post on Friday.

«Q2 results may show deterioration, as tariffs on imported mining rigs range from 24% (Malaysia) to 54% (China),» analysts led by James Butterfill wrote.

Bitcoin miners that are dependent on older or less-efficient rigs are faced with higher exposure to these tariffs, the report said.

Core Scientific (CORZ) is «better insulated, as it transitions to HPC,» the authors wrote, adding that Bitdeer (BTDR), which makes its own rigs, could see margin pressure on sales outside the U.S.

The asset manager predicts that the Bitcoin network hashrate could reach 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s) by July and 2 ZH/s by early 2027.

The hashprice outlook is not as positive.

The asset manager’s model indicates «a gradual structural decline, with prices likely to remain range-bound between $35 and $50 per PH/day through to the 2028 halving cycle.»

Tariffs and trade tensions could be positive for bitcoin adoption in the medium term, asset manager Grayscale said in a research report earlier this month.

Read more: Bitcoin Miners With HPC Exposure Underperformed in First Two Weeks of April: JPMorgan

Mastercard is moving deeper into the digital asset economy by launching new global capabilities to support stablecoin payments across its vast merchant network, the company announced Monday.

The payments giant is working with crypto exchange OKX to roll out the «OKX Card,» aimed at linking crypto trading and Web3 activities with everyday spending. Meanwhile, merchants will soon be able to settle transactions directly in stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC, thanks to collaborations with Nuvei and Circle. Paxos will help extend this functionality to other supported stablecoins like USDP.

“When it comes to blockchain and digital assets, the benefits for mainstream use cases are clear,” Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard, said in a statement. “To realize its potential, we need to make it as easy for merchants to receive stablecoin payments and for consumers to use them. We believe in the potential of stablecoins to streamline payments and commerce across the value chain. Unlocking this is core to how we navigate the rapidly changing world, giving people and businesses the freedom they want by providing the choices they deserve,” he said.

Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar, have been gradually moving beyond trading venues into mainstream payments.

Mastercard’s initiative covers the full range of stablecoin use cases, from wallet enablement and card issuance to merchant settlement and on-chain remittances. The company has previously partnered with crypto exchanges like Kraken, Binance and Crypto.com to allow users to pay with stablecoins via traditional cards.

Last year, it rolled out Mastercard Crypto Credential, a service designed to simplify sending digital assets across borders using verified usernames rather than complex wallet addresses.

In 2023, Mastercard launched its Multi-Token Network (MTN) which is being leveraged to facilitate real-time settlements and redemptions of tokenized assets.

Ondo Finance, in February, became the first provider to bring real-world assets to the network.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.