When Bitcoin encounters a “value winter”, real-world gold is recasting the iron curtain of value on the blockchain.

Recently, the volatility of the crypto market has become increasingly uncertain with changes in the international financial market, and the price trends of mainstream crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and SOL have also fallen into a downturn. The market’s enthusiasm for crypto trading seems to be moving from optimistic to bearish. In sharp contrast, the international gold price has been rising all the way, exceeding US$3,240 per ounce, constantly setting new historical highs, and the price has once again verified that gold is a safe-haven asset.

Correspondingly, the market cap of tokenized gold assets in the crypto space has also surged, surpassing $2 billion on April 11. From a risk-hedging perspective, crypto-based gold assets are emerging as a compelling new option. PANews has compiled an overview of the major gold-related investment avenues in the current crypto landscape.

Currently, gold-related trading exposure in crypto is divided into tokenized gold—such as TetherGold (XAUT) and PAXGold (PAXG)—which essentially represent digital certificates of ownership over physical gold. There are also derivative trades involving these tokenized gold assets against stablecoins, such as spot or futures pairs offered by exchanges. In addition, some online precious metals dealers accept crypto payments for physical gold transactions. These gold participation methods differ in terms of risk preferences and capital flexibility.

XAUT and PAXG: leading projects for tokenized gold

TetherGold (XAUT) and PAXGold (PAXG) are currently the two products with the largest market value in the tokenized gold market. XAUT is issued by Tether, the USDT issuer, and 1XAUT corresponds to the ownership of 1 troy ounce of gold on specific LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) recognized “good delivery” gold bars. Gold is allocated on a designated basis, and holders can check the unique serial number, purity and weight of the gold bar associated with their address through the official website. Tether claims that its reserves back 100% of the issued tokens, and XAUT is partially backed by gold in its reserves. As of April 12, the total XAUT support volume was 7,667.7 kilograms of gold, distributed across 644 gold bars, and the XAUT token market value was approximately $797 million.

PAXG is issued by Paxos Trust Company, a trust company and custodian regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Like XAUT, each PAXG token corresponds to one troy ounce of LBMA Good Delivery gold. PAXG’s issuance is audited monthly by a third-party auditor. As of the February 28 report, the company held 209,160 ounces of gold (approximately 5,929 kilograms).

Compared to traditional gold ETFs or futures, both XAUT and PAXG incur no custody fees and have lower minimum purchase requirements.

PAXG’s fee structure differs from XAUT’s. Creating or redeeming PAXG directly on the Paxos platform incurs tiered fees based on transaction size, and on-chain transfers carry a 0.02% Paxos fee. In contrast, XAUT claims to have no custody fees but charges a 0.25% fee for direct purchases or redemptions. This means that for small users, trading PAXG on secondary markets may be more cost-effective than using Paxos directly, avoiding creation or redemption fees. However, frequent on-chain transfers may lead to additional costs for PAXG.

Quorium’s Gold Mining Model and Kinesis’ In-House Minting

Other tokenized gold products with over $100 million in market cap include Quorium (QGLOD) and KinesisGold (KAU). QGLOD follows a unique model, where the gold it holds represents mining reserves rather than physical gold. Although the project claims to publish periodic gold reserve reports, PANews found that these web pages are no longer accessible. Therefore, reserve information for QGLOD is unclear. The lack of transparency, conflicting data, and absence of independent third-party verification raise major concerns—especially around the notion of “undeveloped reserves.” How these reserves support liquid tokens or are audited and valued remains unresolved, introducing high uncertainty and risk for investors.

Additionally, QGLOD’s market data shows warning signs. With a market cap of around $270 million but a daily trading volume of just $100,000—and trading concentrated on a few lesser-known exchanges—the asset’s market cap, trading volume, and liquidity are mismatched. Combined with its lack of transparency, QGLOD’s security seems questionable.

KinesisGold (KAU), unlike PAXG or XAUT, uses a denomination of one gram of gold per token. Its distinguishing feature lies in its revenue-sharing model. Unlike PAXG and XAUT, which solely track the price of gold, KAU distributes part of the platform’s trading fees (in KAU) back to holders. However, these returns are neither fixed nor risk-free—they depend entirely on the trading volume and fee income of the Kinesis platform. Additionally, Kinesis offers a virtual card that allows users to spend KAU directly in everyday transactions, a unique feature. In terms of transparency, Kinesis conducts semiannual audits and supports physical redemption in 100-gram increments. According to official materials, Kinesis operates a 5,600-square-meter mint and refinery—KinesisMint—which produces high-quality gold and silver bars.

In terms of market circulation, XAUT and PAXG remain the most liquid tokenized gold assets and are traded on numerous major centralized and decentralized exchanges. KAU, by contrast, is traded primarily on Kinesis’ own exchange and a few centralized platforms like BitMart and Emirex, with slightly lower liquidity.

Plenty of Payment-Based Physical Gold Options, but Tokenized Gold Struggles to Enter DeFi

Beyond tokenized gold, many traditional precious metals dealers now accept crypto payments. These gold exposures are primarily used for spot transactions, where crypto acts merely as a payment method rather than fundamentally altering the business model. Moreover, these transactions often require higher minimum investments, and many platforms sell collectible coins or medallions—requiring buyers to have the ability to assess product authenticity and premiums beyond just the gold content.

Aside from trading tokenized gold like PAXG or XAUT, some centralized exchanges offer different forms of gold trading. For instance, Bybit offers gold CFDs (Contracts for Difference), allowing users to speculate on the price movements of gold without owning the actual asset. This is similar to index contract trading in traditional financial markets. Users only track the gold price and open derivative positions—there is no physical gold delivery involved. Among mainstream crypto exchanges, Bybit is currently the only one offering such a product. However, many traditional XAU/USD CFD platforms now accept crypto deposits, including FP Markets, Fusion Markets, and easyMarkets. This type of trading is more suited for professional traders familiar with gold and forex markets rather than typical crypto investors.

Despite tokenized gold possessing the characteristics of Real-World Assets (RWAs), adoption on major DeFi lending platforms remains limited. Besides PAXG being usable on Morpho for staking yields, leading protocols like Aave and Compound do not accept gold tokens as native collateral. This may be due to several reasons: (1) challenges in establishing reliable, decentralized gold price oracles, which are vital for liquidation systems; (2) potential regulatory uncertainty; and (3) relatively lower demand for gold tokens as collateral compared to ETH or stablecoins.

In summary, among the ways to gain gold exposure in the crypto market, holding mainstream, high-liquidity gold tokens like PAXG or XAUT remains the most common. While there are several other tokenized gold options, due diligence around the issuer and transparency is crucial for evaluating their security. Buying physical gold via traditional precious metal dealers who accept crypto payments offers direct ownership but comes with higher entry barriers and potential product premiums. In the DeFi space, gold asset integration remains limited—highlighting the broader challenge of deeply integrating RWAs into on-chain finance.

As Bitcoin holders during the current downturn begin turning to real gold, this shift not only signifies a maturing crypto market but could also mark the start of a value resurgence—from digital gold back to the real thing.

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