Tether Launches Gold-backed Stablecoin aUSDT
17 Jun, 2024 ● Vijesti o kovanicama
Tether is launching a gold-backed stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
It is the issuer's first tethered asset, named Alloy (aUSDT), and can be minted on the new Alloy by Tether platform.
The company states that Alloy will be overcollateralized by Tether Gold (XAUt), a token representing ownership of physical gold, but will be pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Essentially, the new token is a synthetic dollar, designed to emulate the value and functionality of the U.S. dollar without being directly backed by it.
In an X post, Alloy explained that tethered assets are “digital assets that aim to track the reference price of another asset through different stabilization mechanisms.”
Additionally, it noted:
“Alloy by Tether provides long-term holders the opportunity to maintain exposure to gold, while in parallel obtaining a dollar-referenced Tethered Asset for payments and day-to-day economy.”
The organization also mentioned that other tethered assets, including yield-bearing products, could be developed on the platform.
The synthetic dollar can be minted by depositing XUSDT through a smart contract and price oracles, allowing users to make transactions with aUSDT while retaining their gold-backed Tether asset.
AUSDT was created by Tether subsidiaries Moon Gold and Moon Gold El Salvador.
According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Alloy by Tether will be part of a real-world asset tokenization platform launching later this year.
Tether’s aUSDT is not the first synthetic dollar. In August 2022, Galoy introduced a Bitcoin-based synthetic dollar called Stablesats on the Lightning Network.
The synthetic dollar gained popularity when startup Ethena Labs launched its Ether-backed, dollar-pegged USDe in February, though it faced some skepticism.
Asymmetry later introduced an algorithmically balanced synthetic dollar in June.
One analyst has praised aUSDT in comparison to USDe and other stablecoins due to Tether’s high liquidity and “smarter decision-making and less principal-agent risk” due to its centralized control.
To incentivize adoption, Tether is offering USDT holders a bonus at a 2:1 ratio and has reserved 10 million aUSDT for this purpose.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-launches-gold-backed-stablecoin-dollar-alloy
https://x.com/Alloy_tether/status/1802676445619098065
https://x.com/Alloy_tether/status/1802676451117846699
https://x.com/paoloardoino/status/1802693087644320087
