Tether's New aUSDT Stablecoin Flops Spectacularly Despite 'Very Useful and Innovative' Claims

Five weeks ago, Tether, the most profitable company in the crypto industry partnered with its subsidiaries Moon Gold and Moon Gold El Salvador to launch a new token, Alloy (aUSDT).

Five weeks after launching a new token, Alloy (aUSDT), barely any traders have opened positions in the derivative, with a trivial amount transacted.

Alloy is designed to be pegged to the US dollar and backed by gold in Swiss vaults. However, statistics show that the stablecoin has failed to garner interest.

According to data from Dune Analytics, only five wallets have opened aUSDT positions, while 32 wallets hold the token. Furthermore, CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap show that only $34 of aUSDT transacted over the last 24 hours.

Despite Tether’s claim that aUSDT is a “very useful and innovative combination for users who want to engage in digital transactions, payments, and remittances with a currency that feels as familiar as the US dollar,” the stablecoin has seen dismal trading activity.

Launched on March 23, aUSDT is part of a complex structure involving Tether, its subsidiaries Moon Gold and Moon Gold El Salvador, and El Salvador’s National Digital Assets Commission (CNAD). The token is designed to be over-collateralized by XAUT, which is itself pegged to gold and trades on the Tether exchange.

Together, Moon Gold and its El Salvadoran division helped set up and coordinate the sequence of events and ownership transfers to keep aUSDT backed by physical gold.

As is the case with most digital assets offered by Tether — USDT, XAUT, LEO, RSR, EURT, CNHT, and AUSDT — any proof of reserves is mainly based on statements from corporate executives. Unless someone wants to arrange for delivery or physical inspection of their allocation of gold in Switzerland, they must trust Tether’s assurances and paperwork.

Perhaps for this reason, less than a few dozen people have adopted this latest version of a “gold-backed” stablecoin.