Bybit and Tether announced a joint promotional campaign offering rewards tied to Tether Gold (XAUT). Tether Gold is a tokenized gold product backed 1:1 by physical gold stored in Swiss vaults. The initiative, dubbed the Golden Season, launches as crypto investment sentiment worsens and the tokenized gold market exceeds $6 billion in total size.
Bybit said it would expand XAUT integration across its trading, custody, and structured yield products, and plans to roll out up to $10 million of additional stablecoins and Real-World Asset-linked yield products in March. The Golden Season program provides XAUT-linked trading rewards, referral incentives, and limited-time liquidity pools. Helen Liu, Bybit’s Co-CEO, said the aim is to offer users practical ways to seek stability amid the market downturn. Both firms note that the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has recently registered extreme fear.
Bybit claims that as of January 2026, about 15.75% of centralized exchange XAUT trading volume came from Bybit, making it the top XAUT trading venue by CoinGecko’s data at that time. The current XAUT price is around $5,131, down from near $5,500 at the January peak, and trading at roughly a 2% discount to the underlying gold spot price. The tokenized gold sector is growing rapidly, with XAUT and Pax Gold (PAXG) together accounting for about 97% of a $6 billion market cap as of mid-February 2026. Spot gold prices surged in 2025, rising more than 64% to post the largest annual gain since 1979, driven by central-bank purchases, inflation concerns, and geopolitical risks, according to Bybit analysts.
The campaign is fundamentally aimed at attracting new users and retaining existing customers; however, whether the $1 million in rewards will meaningfully affect XAUT liquidity or exchange usage remains uncertain. A whale reportedly purchased about $3.9 million of XAUT, signaling continued demand for safe-haven assets. The aggregate XAUT market cap has surpassed $6 billion, and XAUT trades around $5,131 on the market.
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