Onchain gold products attracted billions of dollars in new value last year, expanding at a pace that exceeded both the broader gold market and most major spot gold ETFs as onchain trading activity picked up. Data compiled by Cex.io from public blockchain and market sources shows that the market capitalization of tokenized gold rose by 177% over the year, while the number of holders nearly tripled, with more than 115,000 new wallets added. This growth rate surpassed that of most other real-world asset categories.

In total, the tokenized gold sector added nearly $2.8 billion in net value during 2025, growing from roughly $1.6 billion to about $4.4 billion. That increase alone accounted for close to a quarter of all net inflows across the RWA market and exceeded the combined expansion seen in tokenized equities, corporate bonds and non-US Treasurys. The rise came during a strong year for gold overall, which saw its total market value climb more than 67%, although tokenized gold still expanded around 2.6 times faster than physical gold and outperformed most major spot gold ETFs.

Trading volumes signal a structural shift

Tokenized gold generated approximately $178 billion in trading volume in 2025, with quarterly volumes peaking above $126 billion in the fourth quarter. At that scale, tokenized gold would rank as the second-largest gold investment product globally by trading volume, behind only SPDR Gold Shares.

A significant portion of the late-year activity was driven by Tether Gold (XAUT), which made up 75% of total trading volume in the fourth quarter, up from 27% in the previous quarter. According to its website, XAUT carries a market capitalization of $2.42 billion and is backed by 1,329 gold bars, equivalent to roughly 16,239 kilograms of physical gold.

“Such a massive expansion highlights a structural shift in where incremental gold trading liquidity is increasingly forming onchain rather than in traditional products,” the report said.

More broadly, tokenized commodities have seen their combined market capitalization rise above $4.3 billion. Data from RWA.xyz shows the sector expanded by 18% over the past month, led by Tether Gold at $1.9 billion and Paxos Gold at $1.7 billion.

Macro forces continue to support gold demand

Gold prices have climbed to record highs as investors seek safe-haven assets amid growing macroeconomic and political uncertainty. Earlier this week, precious metals rallied sharply following reports of a criminal investigation involving Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which raised questions about the central bank’s independence.

Economic data has also played a role. A weaker-than-expected US Consumer Price Index reading strengthened expectations for multiple Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, putting pressure on real yields and the US dollar. Lower yields tend to increase the appeal of gold as a non-yielding asset, while ongoing uncertainty around monetary policy has further supported bullish sentiment in the metal.

Sources:

https://www.wsj.com/finance/commodities-futures/gold-rises-amid-geopolitical-risks-56dafafe

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tokenized-gold-drives-rwa-growth-2025

https://gold.tether.to/

https://cex.io/