Tether’s XAUt Gold Token Receives Shariah Certification, Unlocking Islamic Finance Access

Opening Doors to Islamic Finance

Tether’s XAUt, a blockchain-based gold token, has received Shariah certification from Amanah Advisors, validating its compliance with Islamic financial principles. The certification confirms that XAUt meets key requirements including full backing by physical gold, absence of interest-bearing mechanisms, and transparent reserve verification. Each token represents one troy ounce of physical gold held in Swiss vaults, providing investors with direct on-chain exposure to the precious metal.

According to Tether, the certification clears the pathway for XAUt adoption among Islamic financial institutions and investors seeking Shariah-compliant assets. The company expects the designation to accelerate market penetration across regions where Islamic finance dominates, including the Gulf Cooperation Council, South Asia, and Africa.

Scaling a Multi-Billion Dollar Product

XAUt has emerged as one of the crypto market’s largest tokenized gold offerings. Tether’s latest reserves report disclosed that the token was backed by more than 707,000 troy ounces of physical gold, valued at over $3.3 billion as of March 31. The product has grown substantially on-chain, with asset values climbing from approximately $700 million in July 2025 to roughly $2.5 billion, reflecting expanding institutional and retail appetite for blockchain-based precious metal exposure.

Crypto and Islamic Finance Find Common Ground

The relationship between cryptocurrencies and Islamic finance has historically been fraught with theological debate. Islamic scholars have questioned whether digital assets comply with Shariah principles governing speculation, uncertainty, and interest-based transactions. However, market participants are increasingly developing compliant solutions to access the more than $3 trillion Islamic finance market.

Recent momentum supports this shift. In 2025, Bahrain-based AlAbraaj Restaurants Group incorporated Bitcoin into its corporate treasury while committing to develop Shariah-compliant financial instruments for broader Islamic adoption. More recently, Palm Azgar Finance expanded its Shariah-compliant PUSD stablecoin to ADI Chain, offering a dirham-denominated token alongside dollar-linked assets on unified infrastructure. Dubai has reinforced this regulatory environment by establishing itself as a leading Middle Eastern crypto hub, with its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority recently issuing its 50th virtual asset service provider license—surpassing the licensed firms in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Tokenized physical assets like XAUt represent a pragmatic bridge between traditional Islamic investment principles and blockchain innovation, signaling growing institutional confidence in compliant digital finance infrastructure.

Source: Amanah Advisors and Tether, via Cointelegraph. Not financial advice.