Tether Gold

Holding XAUt pays nothing: there is no interest, yield or custody income, only the value of the gold itself.

Riba means interest or any guaranteed increase on a loan. XAUt is not a loan to the issuer: each token is ownership of an undivided share of an ounce of gold that the custodian holds on the holder's behalf, and the issuer's terms and FAQ describe no interest, staking or yield for holders. The issuer charges a one-time 0.25% fee on purchase and on redemption and no custody fee. Because gold is a ribawi item, exchanging it for money must be settled on the spot; that requirement is judged under permissible ownership.

Each token is ownership of one ounce of physical gold on an identified London Good Delivery bar, which is property (mal) by any view, though small holders cannot take delivery of their gold.

Mal is property that Islamic law recognises as having value. Gold is mal without dispute, and XAUt's terms say each token reflects ownership of an undivided specific interest in one fine troy ounce on a specific bar, identifiable by serial number, weight and purity, held by the custodian for token holders. The AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard on Gold (No.

XAUt is mainly used to hold gold; its price follows gold, and there is no chance-based payout.

Maysir is gambling: winning or losing by chance rather than through productive exchange. Ordinary price movement is not maysir, and XAUt's price simply tracks gold (about $4,280 on 27 September 2026, down about 22% from the January 2026 high as gold fell). The token has no lottery or betting mechanics. There is a futures market around it: on Binance on 27 September 2026 XAUTUSDT perpetual futures traded about $6.9 million in 24 hours against about $3.7 million on spot (a single-day snapshot on one exchange), while total XAUt volume across markets was about $53 million.

The issuer earns a 0.25% fee when it sells or redeems tokens, plus any mark-up on the gold it sells; no custody or transfer fees.

This criterion asks how the issuer earns. TG Commodities, the Tether company that issues XAUt, charges 0.25% on purchase and 0.25% on redemption, may sell tokens at the market price of gold including a dealer mark-up, and charges nothing for holding or on-chain transfers. These are fees for a service and a trade in gold, which are permissible. The issuer also holds unsold tokens as inventory (about 95,000 on 30 June 2026), backed by gold like the rest.

XAUt is a tokenised form of gold, used mainly to hold and move gold ownership.

This criterion looks at what the asset is actually used for. Tokenising a permissible asset such as gold is a pass-level use. XAUt is used to hold gold without storage fees, to move gold ownership between wallets and exchanges, and, since 2026, for card payments with cashback in XAUt (Tether and Fasset, June 2026). Tether and Ledn also announced loans in dollar stablecoins secured by XAUt, expected later in 2026; borrowing at interest is a concern for the borrower, but it is a side use rather than the token's purpose.

Fully paid spot XAUt is available on major exchanges and in self-custody, but gold-for-money trades must settle immediately.

This criterion asks whether the asset can be owned in a permissible way. XAUt trades spot with full payment on major exchanges such as Binance and Bybit and, as an ordinary Ethereum or BNB Chain token, can be withdrawn to a self-custody wallet. Because gold is exchanged for money, both the AAOIFI gold standard and Malaysia's SC Shariah Advisory Council require both sides to be settled on the spot (bai' al-sarf); a normal fully paid spot trade meets this, while any deferred leg does not.

XAUt makes owning real gold cheaper and more accessible; its main harm is dependence on one centralised issuer.

Maslahah weighs public benefit against harm. XAUt lets people own small amounts of allocated physical gold, divisible down to a millionth of an ounce, without storage fees and at any hour, which serves the preservation of wealth. The harms are moderate: one company controls issuance, allocation and redemption and can freeze tokens, and the gold is concentrated in Swiss vaults under an unnamed custodian. These risks are counted under gharar and are not counted again here.