PANews reported on February 18th that, according to Cryptopolitan, Tether announced a dividend mechanism for its gold-backed token, Tether Gold (XAUT), becoming the first publicly listed gold company structure to allow shareholders to choose to receive dividends in tokenized gold instead of cash. This move is described as a major breakthrough for the gold industry, with demand for digital gold surging recently. XAUT's market capitalization has reached nearly $2.55 billion, leading the overall growth of tokenized real-world assets.

Elemental Royalty Corporation emphasizes that this mechanism links tokenized gold ownership with standard royalty payments on the blockchain. Tether acquired approximately 33% of Elemental in 2025. Investors can acquire direct physical gold ownership by allocating funds to gold royalties, and the company is expected to distribute approximately 12 cents in dividends to investors quarterly. Investors who prefer cash dividends can still choose cash.