Tether's gold-backed XAUt received Shariah certification from Amanah Advisors, giving Islamic banks and investors across the GCC, South Asia, and Africa a compliant route to digital gold.
Tether News
Tether's gold-backed digital token (XAUt) has been certified as Shariah-compliant by Amanah Advisors, an Islamic finance advisory firm led by Mufti Faraz Adam.
The certification reviewed the token's structure and confirmed it meets the key requirements of Islamic finance. Those requirements cover full physical asset backing, the absence of interest and leverage, and a transparent reserve disclosure process.
XAUt is structured so that each token corresponds to one troy ounce of physical gold stored in Swiss vaults. As of March 31, Tether's reserves report showed the token was backed by more than 707,000 troy ounces of gold valued at over $3.3 billion. Data from RWA(dot)xyz shows its on-chain asset value rose from around $700 million in July 2025 to roughly $2.5 billion by mid-2026.
New Doors Open for Islamic Finance
The certification gives Tether a formal basis to approach Islamic banks, takaful providers, and individual investors who can only hold Shariah-compliant assets. Tether said it expects XAUt adoption to grow across the Gulf Cooperation Council, South Asia and parts of Africa. Gold has historically held a strong position in those markets as a savings and wealth preservation tool. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said the certification links physical gold ownership to blockchain infrastructure while respecting Islamic financial principles.
Amanah Advisors will work alongside Tether to build governance frameworks that support XAUt adoption, with a particular focus on secondary-market transactions. Tether also plans to release multilingual educational materials and regional outreach programs for both institutional and retail audiences. The company identified Islamic banks developing digital gold products, halal savings platforms, and institutions seeking collateral-grade gold exposure as primary target users.
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A Growing Market for Compliant Digital Assets
Islamic scholars have debated cryptocurrency's compatibility with Shariah law for years. The core concerns center on speculation, excessive uncertainty, and interest-bearing structures. Despite those debates, Shariah-compliant digital products have been gaining ground. In 2025, Bahrain-based AlAbraaj Restaurants Group adopted a Bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy and announced plans to develop Shariah-compliant instruments to broaden BTC access for Islamic investors. In April 2026, Palm Azgar Finance brought its Shariah-compliant PUSD stablecoin to ADI Chain, aiming at a global Islamic finance market that analysts value at over $3 trillion.
The broader regional backdrop has also shifted. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued its 50th Virtual Asset Service Provider license earlier in July 2026, putting the emirate ahead of both Hong Kong and Singapore by licensed firm count. That regulatory momentum gives Tether a growing institutional base to reach with a product built to satisfy both modern blockchain standards and centuries-old Islamic financial principles.
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