Tether Gold Just Rewrote How Companies Pay Dividends

Tether Gold (XAU₮) powers the world’s first tokenized gold dividend by a public company. Here’s what Elemental Royalty’s move means for crypto and gold markets.

Tether Gold just made history. On February 17, 2026, Tether announced that Elemental Royalty Corporation would offer shareholders dividends payable in XAU₮. No gold company has done this before. Not one.

According to @tether on X, Tether Gold (XAU₮) has enabled the first-ever gold dividend distribution by any publicly listed gold company globally. The post confirmed Elemental Royalty Corporation as the company behind the milestone, giving shareholders a new choice in how they collect returns.

The Gold Company That Did What No One Else Would

Elemental Royalty Corporation is a publicly traded gold royalty firm. Shareholders now have the option to elect dividends denominated in XAU₮ instead of traditional cash. Each XAU₮ token holds one troy fine ounce of physical gold. The token runs on both Ethereum as an ERC-20 and on the TRON blockchain as TRC20.

The allocated gold tied to each token carries a unique serial number, confirmed purity, and verified weight. It’s redeemable in physical gold. So shareholders aren’t getting a paper promise, they’re getting a blockchain-confirmed claim on real, vaulted gold.

This isn’t just a crypto story. It’s a corporate finance story. Gold royalty companies have long sat between miners and investors, collecting royalties and passing value back as dividends. Now that the pipeline runs through blockchain rails.

You might also like: 65% of CEX Stablecoins Sit on Binance, Says CryptoQuant

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, addressed the significance directly. As stated in the official Tether announcement, Ardoino noted that gold has always been among the most trusted stores of value, yet fitting it into modern financial distribution has been difficult. Using XAU₮ for shareholder dividends, he said, changes that dynamic completely.

That’s a strong statement. And the market structure backs it up.

Why This Changes the Math for Gold Investors

For decades, gold equity investors faced a frustrating gap. Their stocks tracked gold prices loosely. Dividends came in cash. The connection to actual gold was indirect at best. Elemental’s move cuts out that gap. Shareholders collecting XAU₮ receive returns tied directly to gold itself, not a cash equivalent that fluctuates with currency moves.

Real-world asset tokenization has been gathering pace across finance. Tokenized treasuries, real estate, and credit products have grown fast. Gold-backed tokens, though, have moved more slowly into corporate treasury and dividend applications.

Must read: BlackRock Updates Staked Ethereum ETF, Targets 18% Rewards

How Tokenized Gold Fits Into Modern Dividend Models

This changes things. A publicly listed company using tokenized gold for actual shareholder distributions sets a precedent. Other gold royalty firms, miners, and commodity companies are now watching. The model is proven. The infrastructure exists.

XAU₮ tokens can move anywhere, anytime, to any on-chain address from a holder’s Tether wallet. Settlement is near-instant. No wire transfers. No currency conversion friction. No intermediaries eating into the payout.

Also worth your time: 2026 Could Be the Ultimate Altcoin Accumulation Year: Here’s Why

Tokenized gold as a dividend vehicle was theoretically possible for years. The infrastructure sat there. What Elemental did was take the step. That first mover advantage matters.

Tether Gold is the largest tokenized gold product by market cap. Available since 2020, XAU₮ was built precisely for use cases like this, where physical gold needs to move with the speed and flexibility of a digital asset. The Elemental announcement validates that original design intent in a way no trading volume figure could.

Related: OKX Secures Malta PI License to Expand EU Stablecoin Payments

The move arrives as tokenized real-world assets gain traction globally. Institutional interest in blockchain-based commodity products has grown through 2025 and into this year. Elemental’s adoption of XAU₮ is not just a company decision; it signals that gold’s next phase in capital markets runs through blockchain infrastructure.

Gold. Dividends. Blockchain. Three separate worlds. One transaction now connects them all.