Tokenized gold adds $2.8B in 2025, outpacing most RWA categories

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Tokenized gold adds $2.8B in 2025

Onchain liquidity explodes as trading volume hits $178 billion

Beyond market cap growth, tokenized gold also posted massive trading activity, recording about $178 billion in volume in 2025, with Q4 quarterly volume peaking above $126 billion, according to the same dataset. By that measure, the report argued tokenized gold would rank as the second-largest gold investment product globally by trading volume, behind only SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). Much of the late-year acceleration was driven by Tether Gold (XAUT), which accounted for 75% of total tokenized gold trading volume after sitting at just 27% in Q3, reflecting a sharp consolidation of liquidity.

XAUT’s scale is increasingly approaching “institutional-style” relevance, with Tether reporting a market cap of $2.42 billion and backing tied to roughly 1,329 gold bars, or about 16,239 kilograms of physical gold. The surge suggests onchain markets are not just mirroring demand from traditional finance — they’re forming their own liquidity centers, especially during periods of stress. This is where tokenized gold’s advantage shows most clearly: it can be traded 24/7, used as collateral, and moved globally at crypto speed without leaving the gold exposure.

Gold’s macro rally fuels adoption as commodities pass $4.3 billion onchain

Tokenized commodities as a whole have now pushed past $4.3 billion in market cap, with RWA.xyz showing the category up 18% over the past month, led by Tether Gold and Paxos Gold (PAXG). Gold itself has been ripping to record highs as investors rushed into safe havens amid rising macro and political uncertainty, reinforcing demand for gold proxies that are easier to move than physical metal. The latest catalyst came after reports of a criminal investigation tied to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which raised fresh concerns about central-bank independence and policy credibility.

At the same time, a weaker-than-expected US CPI print revived expectations for multiple rate cuts, dragging real yields lower and weakening the dollar — conditions that historically support gold’s upside. While gold is traditionally seen as a non-yielding hedge, tokenized gold can also plug into DeFi workflows, making it a more flexible “store of value” instrument for crypto-native capital. If rate-cut expectations persist and geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated, tokenized gold could continue absorbing incremental demand — not just from crypto traders, but from global users who want gold exposure without the friction of legacy markets.

Recently we wrote that total crypto market capitalization climbed to around $3.23 trillion, extending a broad rebound across majors.

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