Tether has secured Shariah certification for its gold-backed token XAUt, unlocking access to Islamic finance markets. The approval was granted by Amanah Advisors after a review confirmed the token’s structure meets key Islamic finance principles—namely physical gold backing, transparent reserve management, and the avoidance of interest, leverage, and speculative derivatives.
Each XAUt token represents direct ownership of physical gold stored in secure Swiss vaults. According to Tether’s latest reserve report, the token is backed by more than 707,000 troy ounces of gold valued at over $3.3 billion as of March 31. The certification validates that this arrangement aligns with Shariah’s emphasis on tangible asset backing.
The move opens up digital gold products, halal savings solutions, tokenized trade finance, and collateral services within Islamic financial systems. Tether anticipates stronger adoption across Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as well as in South Asia and parts of Africa, where Islamic finance has a strong presence. Amanah Advisors will continue to advise on governance for secondary-market transactions to maintain ongoing compliance.
The certification arrives amid growing institutional interest in tokenized real-world assets. Tether plans to support the rollout with multilingual educational resources and regional communication initiatives, aiming to integrate XAUt into Shariah-compliant digital asset offerings without altering core Islamic financial principles.
