The Breakdown
Tether Goes Fully American and Doubles Down on Gold
Jan 29, 2026
· 8m
Tether has officially launched its US-compliant stablecoin, USAT, a Genius Act–aligned, Treasury-backed token designed to operate squarely inside the American regulatory perimeter, giving the company a powerful hedge as global rules harden and tokenization accelerates. But the bigger story may be what comes next: Tether’s rapid accumulation of gold, now rivaling central banks and openly framed by CEO Paolo Ardoino as preparation for a fractured monetary order where gold-backed alternatives to the dollar emerge. The episode explores why USAT is …