Tokenized gold has just surged, with over $1 billion in daily trading volume as gold breaks out. The future of gold isn’t bars or ETFs, it is on-chain.
Context in a Nutshell
Gold’s rally isn’t just fueling safe-haven flows; it is also inflaming the on-chain gold market. Tokenized gold just crossed $1 billion in daily volume, turning heads across crypto and TradFi.
What You Should Know
Tokenized gold (gold-backed crypto tokens) broke $1 billion in daily trading volume amid the surge in gold prices.
Over the past few weeks, tokenized gold versions have outpaced traditional gold ETFs in trading volume, even though they remain significantly smaller in absolute terms.
Since October 1, tokenized gold products have crossed $10 billion in cumulative volume, overtaking IAU (iShares Gold Trust) in trading activity over that period.
XAUt (Tether’s gold token) accounted for 37% of tokenized gold volume this month, up from 27% last quarter; holder count for XAUt rose more than 12%.
The volume-to-market-cap ratio for tokenized gold is 34%, compared to 5.6% for the GLD ETF and 1.5% for the IAU, indicating a higher level of activity in these tokens per unit of market capitalization.
Why Does This Matter?
What we’re seeing is not just appetite for gold; it’s a demand for liquidity, speed, and accessibility. Tokenized gold enables traders to react instantly to macroeconomic shocks, 24/7, unlike traditional vehicles bound by market hours. As gold’s narrative strengthens, the growth vector for tokenized gold isn’t just a store of value; it is an active trading and hedging infrastructure. This volume explosion isn’t temporary; it signals a shift in capital behavior.
Gold is rallying, and on-chain gold is evolving from a reflexive tool into core infrastructure. When tokens outpace ETFs in velocity, you know the future is being forged in real time.
