Herculis Gold Coin (XAUH)

XAUH is a gold token at one gram per token, issued on TON, Ethereum, and Tron. About 10,500 XAUH were outstanding on 2026-09-23, roughly $1.4 million at spot, against 15.5 kg KPMG counted in a Swiss vault on 2026-08-26. The gold appears to exist; what the holder owns does not appear in any binding document. The white paper promises a claim to allocated gold held for holders and out of reach of creditors, then says it is not legally binding and defers to terms Herculis has not published. KPMG found the gold owned by a Herculis group company. Two sites name two different issuers, one in Panama and one in Oman. On Ethereum a 3-of-4 multisig can freeze any address, wipe the frozen balance, pause the token, and upgrade it. The assessment is adverse.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict
• Herculis publishes binding terms that give holders title to, or a trust interest in, allocated gold
• Herculis names one issuer across its sites and publishes every contract address, including Tron
• An auditor gives assurance on the gold and ties every bar to the holders
• Herculis freezes or wipes an address, or supply exceeds the grams last counted

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-12-23.

The research file

What the holder owns

The white paper says each token “shall continue to represent a claim to 1 gram of the fully allocated physical gold held in custody,” and that the gold is held “exclusively for the benefit of XAUH token holders” and not for the company’s creditors. That describes allocated, segregated metal, the structure that protects holders if the issuer fails. But the same paper is not intended to be legally binding and refers to “applicable Terms” that are not on either site. KPMG’s agreed-upon procedures report of 28 August 2026 says KPMG obtained “justification for the ownership of 15.49845 KG of gold by one entity of the group”: the company owns the gold, and nothing on record transfers it to holders. The site says the token is not a security under Swiss or Panamanian law.

Who the issuer is

xauh.gold and the white paper name Herculis Tokens SA, a Panama company, as the issuer that mints and redeems. herculis.gold calls Herculis Trading SPC, supervised in Oman, “the issuer of Herculis Gold Coin (XAUH).” Both supervisory references are anti-money-laundering registrations, not licences to issue or hold client assets. A holder with a claim would not know which company to bring it against.

How redemption works

KYC-verified customers redeem through xauh.gold from 500 XAUH, in multiples, for Swiss bars delivered anywhere at their cost. The fee is 3% at 500 grams and 1% from 1 kg, so a small redemption loses a large share of its value. Below 500 grams the exit is BTSE, Biconomy, Uniswap, or STON.fi. The white paper also sets a 0.02% fee on transfers.

Who controls the contracts

The Ethereum token is an upgradeable proxy running a Paxos-style implementation, verified on Blockscout: `freeze`, `wipeFrozenAddress` (which zeroes a frozen balance), `pause`, and supply increase and decrease. The owner is a 3-of-4 multisig. The documents say nothing about freezing. The TON jetton, which the site calls the issuing token, is mintable by a multisig admin; the Ketju reader does not read it. A Tron token circulates, but no Herculis page gives its address.

Comparison and decision

Against PAX Gold, XAUH has gold counted by a large auditor but no binding terms, an ownership record in the company’s name, and two named issuers. KPMG’s procedures give no assurance and matched only 8 of 18 bars to invoices. The assessment reopens if Herculis publishes binding terms that give holders title or a trust interest, names one issuer, and publishes the Tron address.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• Herculis Gold Coin white paper v4.0 (2026-05-21) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: claim to allocated gold, held for holders, not legally binding, Herculis Tokens SA, Panama, redemption terms
• KPMG SA: report of factual findings (28 August 2026) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: 15.5 kg owned by a group entity, no assurance
• xauh.gold home page · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: contract links, not a security
• Herculis Group: herculis.gold · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: Herculis Trading SPC named issuer
• XAUH implementation on Ethereum (Blockscout verified source) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: freeze and wipeFrozenAddress, pause, upgradeTo

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.