Tokenized gold products traded $90.7 billion in spot volume during the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the $84.6 billion recorded across all of 2025, according to CoinGecko’s RWA Report 2026.
The jump gives gold-backed tokens one of the clearest growth stories in the real-world asset market. CoinGecko’s report states that “spot trading on tokenized gold reached $90.7B in Q1 2026,” putting three months of activity ahead of the prior full-year total. The same report places the wider tokenized commodities market at $5.5 billion by the end of Q1, up from $1.4 billion in 2025.
The market is still led by two names: PAX Gold and Tether Gold. PAXG is structured so one token represents one fine troy ounce of a London Good Delivery gold bar held in professional vault facilities under Paxos Trust Company custody. Tether Gold gives holders tokenized exposure to physical gold held in Swiss vaults, with each XAUT representing one fine troy ounce of gold.
That structure has become more attractive as gold demand moves back into the spotlight. Investors have been buying physical gold ETFs again, with global gold funds adding $6.6 billion in April and pushing holdings close to record levels. Tokenized gold adds a crypto-native version of the same trade: 24/7 transferability, exchange liquidity, wallet custody, and direct exposure to one of the oldest safe-haven assets.
CoinGecko’s breakdown shows PAXG and XAUT controlling most tokenized gold activity. The report notes that PAXG accounted for 34.2% to 82.5% of monthly tokenized gold spot volume during the period studied, while XAUT accounted for 14.8% to 64.6%. On average, PAXG traded $5.72 billion per month and XAUT traded $5.32 billion.
Centralized exchanges still handle the bulk of spot volume, which keeps tokenized gold close to liquid trading markets rather than pure DeFi infrastructure. That may be part of the appeal. Traders can move between crypto assets, stablecoins, and gold-backed tokens without waiting for traditional market hours or opening a brokerage account.
The rise also fits the broader RWA trend. Tokenized Treasuries, commodities, stocks, and funds are turning traditional assets into blockchain-based instruments, while crypto users are looking for products that behave differently from pure beta exposure to Bitcoin or altcoins. Tokenized gold sits in the middle of that demand: it carries gold price risk and issuer/custody risk, but it trades like a digital asset.
Tokenized gold’s next challenge is durability. The market has already shown it can attract heavy activity when macro fear, inflation pressure, and safe-haven demand rise. Sustained growth will depend on exchange depth, redemption confidence, issuer transparency, vault custody, and whether traders keep treating PAXG and XAUT as useful collateral and settlement assets after the strongest gold momentum cools.
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