Yeliz Akmaca 
The tokenized gold market has climbed past $6 billion as gold’s historic rally pushes more value onchain. Tether Gold (XAUt) and Paxos’ PAX Gold now account for over 95% of the segment, making tokenized commodities the fastest-growing vertical in real-world asset tokenization.
A quiet shift is underway. Gold is moving onchain — and faster than expected.
At the start of the year, the tokenized commodities market stood near $4 billion. In less than six weeks, nearly $2 billion in value has been added. Data from Token Terminal shows that almost all of this growth is coming from gold-backed products.
Gold Tokens Are Driving The Market
The numbers are hard to ignore. Tether’s gold-backed token Tether Gold (XAUt) has been the largest contributor, with its market cap rising 51.6% over the past month to $3.6 billion. Paxos-listed PAX Gold (PAXG) climbed 33.2% over the same period, reaching $2.3 billion.
Together, these two products now represent more than 95% of the entire tokenized commodities market.
On a year-over-year basis, tokenized commodities are up 360%. Since the start of 2026, growth in this segment has outpaced tokenized stocks and tokenized funds, which posted gains of 42% and just 3.6%, respectively.
In comparison, the tokenized commodities market — now at roughly $6.1 billion — stands at just over one-third the size of the $17.2 billion tokenized funds market. Tokenized stocks, meanwhile, sit at only $538 million.
Tether Deepens Its Gold Strategy
This surge isn’t happening in isolation. Tether recently expanded its tokenized commodities strategy by acquiring a $150 million stake in precious metals platform Gold.com, aiming to broaden access to tokenized gold.
The company said its XAUt token will be integrated into Gold.com’s platform and that it is exploring options to allow customers to purchase physical gold using USDT.
In other words, Tether isn’t just issuing digital gold — it’s working to bridge onchain assets with the physical world.
Gold Accelerates While Bitcoin Lags
The rise in tokenized gold follows a powerful rally in spot gold prices.
Gold has gained more than 80% over the past year, reaching a new all-time high of $5,600 on Jan. 29. After a brief pullback to around $4,700 earlier this month, prices rebounded to roughly $5,050 at the time of writing.
Crypto markets have told a different story. A sharp selloff in mid-October triggered roughly $19 billion in liquidations. Bitcoin dropped more than 52% from its early October peak, briefly touching $60,000 before rebounding — but it remains below $70,000.
This divergence hasn’t gone unnoticed. Strike CEO Jack Mallers suggested Bitcoin is still being treated like a software stock rather than hard money. Grayscale echoed that view, noting that Bitcoin’s long-standing “digital gold” narrative is being tested, with recent price action resembling that of a high-risk growth asset.
When Gold Goes Onchain, The Balance Shifts
Capital is quietly rotating. The rapid expansion of tokenized commodities isn’t just another crypto trend. It looks more like an early signal that traditional safe-haven assets are beginning to migrate onto blockchain rails.
Bitcoin may be lagging for now. But gold — both physical and digital — is back in focus.
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