Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG) increased by about 7% in the past month, reaching historical peaks as investors sought safe-haven assets.
The value of gold-backed cryptocurrencies has seen a significant rise in the past month as global investors sought safe-haven assets amid escalating trade and geopolitical instability. This momentum was further fueled after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a series of new tariffs on April 2, increasing defensive sentiment across both traditional financial markets and digital assets.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the two largest digital gold tokens, Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG), both reached all-time highs on April 22, hitting $3,529 and $3,520 respectively. Over the past 30 days, the value of both assets has increased by around 7%.
Other gold tokens such as Quorium (QGOLD) and Kinesis Gold (KAU) also recorded positive performance, with increases of 8.5% and 7.6% respectively during the same period, according to data from CoinGecko. Over the past 12 months, all four tokens have achieved growth rates above 40%, reflecting an increasing influx of capital into the digital safe-haven asset group.
A report from Tether emphasizes that the demand for XAUT is being driven by macroeconomic factors, including economic instability, geopolitical tensions, and the need to preserve asset value amid inflation risks.
Notably, the rise of gold tokens has occurred alongside the upward trend of physical gold prices. Since April 2, gold prices have increased from $3,115/ounce to $3,335/ounce as of April 28, equivalent to a 7% increase. Gold has long been viewed as an effective hedge against inflation, especially during times of market instability. At the same time, Bitcoin – often referred to as 'digital gold' – has also recorded a 14% increase during the same period, indicating a growing sentiment for seeking value-preserving assets in the digital asset space.
Gold prices in the past month. Source: GoldPrice.org
The rise of gold tokens like XAUT and PAXG reflects a larger trend in the tokenized real asset market, which involves bringing tangible assets such as gold, bonds, or real estate onto the blockchain. According to data from RWA.xyz, the total market value of tokenized RWA (excluding stablecoins) currently stands at $21.6 billion, an 8.6% increase in just the past 30 days.
Tether Gold and Paxos Gold are seen as two prime examples of this trend, with each token backed by one troy ounce of physical gold securely stored at facilities in Switzerland (Tether) and London (Paxos). Gold tokenization not only helps reshape the approach to investing in precious metals but also provides significant advantages such as instant payment and the ability to use directly in transactions for goods and services — something traditional gold investment forms limit by only allowing conversion to fiat currency.
