ADGM recognizes Tether Gold as accepted spot commodity

Abu Dhabi Global Market has recognized Tether Gold, or XAUT, as an accepted spot commodity, allowing regulated firms in the financial center to offer services involving the tokenized gold asset if they hold the required permissions. The move follows ADGM’s earlier acceptance of Tether’s USDT as an Accepted Fiat Referenced Token, expanding the issuer’s regulated product lineup in one of the Middle East’s largest international financial centers. The designation applies only to firms that obtain the relevant regulatory approvals and does not automatically permit all ADGM companies to offer XAUT trading, custody or related services. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the decision gives approved firms a clearer route to support the asset, while ADGM linked the move to a broader range of products and services in the center. The recognition comes as tokenized commodities gain momentum: DefiLlama data shows Tether Gold’s total value locked has risen from about $826 million to roughly $2.86 billion over the past year, and RWA.xyz estimates tokenized commodities are worth about $4.46 billion, or nearly 13% of the roughly $34.73 billion tokenized real-world asset market. XAUT is also finding uses beyond trading and custody, with Bitcoin lending platform Ledn saying in June that it plans to add the token as loan collateral later this year. Beyond gold, Tether has also backed Pact Labs in a $7 million Series A round tied to payroll and payments infrastructure for USAT and invested $20 million in Argentine digital bank Ualá as questions continue over how USDT will fit into the U.S. GENIUS Act framework.