Tether's gold token receives Shariah certification
Amanah Advisors certifies XAUT as compliant with Islamic finance principles, as Tether courts Islamic banks and savers in markets where gold, not the dollar, is the trusted store of value.
What happened
Tether announced on 27 July that XAUT, its gold token, has received Shariah certification from Amanah Advisors, the advisory firm led by Mufti Faraz Adam. Each XAUT token represents ownership of one troy fine ounce of physical gold held in Swiss vaults on London Good Delivery bars, issued by TG Commodities. FinanceFeeds puts the token's outstanding value at $3.3bn. The certification follows XAUT's recognition as an accepted spot commodity in Abu Dhabi Global Market on 20 July.
Why it matters
Islamic finance has been a hard market for token issuers because interest-bearing structures and uncertain asset backing sit badly with Shariah principles, while allocated gold sits well with them. A certification aimed squarely at Islamic banks and institutions gives Tether a distribution argument in Gulf and South East Asian markets, and continues the company's push to build gold rather than only dollar exposure into its product line.
What is not settled
Shariah certification is not a single standard: Amanah Advisors is a private advisory firm, and acceptance rests with the Shariah boards of individual institutions and jurisdictions, which apply their own tests. Whether certification translates into balance-sheet adoption by Islamic banks, rather than retail distribution, is not yet demonstrated by any disclosed mandate.
Institutions in this story
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Tether
Issuer
Issues XAUT through TG Commodities against London Good Delivery bars in Swiss vaults, and is building gold exposure alongside the dollar line; the certification is a distribution argument aimed at Islamic banks rather than a change to the instrument.