Last year, onchain gold products created billions of dollars in new value, more than physical bullion and most gold ETFs, as trading activity moved more and more to blockchain platforms.
By 2025, tokenised gold would be one of the fastest-growing types of crypto assets, accounting for around a fifth of the total net growth of real-world assets (RWAs).
Cex.io says that the market value of tokenised gold surged 177% over the previous year, and the number of holders nearly tripled. The year saw the addition of more than 115,000 new wallets, surpassing the growth of most other RWA categories.
The study found that the tokenised gold market grew from about $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion, generating almost $2.8 billion in net worth in 2025. That gain alone accounted for roughly 25% of all net inflows in the RWA sector, which was more than the total growth of tokenised equities, corporate bonds, and Treasury bonds that weren’t US Treasurys.
Onchain gold is better than physical gold and most ETFs
The rise took place amid a spectacular year for gold, when its total market value rose by more than 67%. Tokenised gold grew about 2.6 times faster than physical gold, even though that was the case. It also did better than most large spot gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In 2025, tokenised gold will trade at $178 billion, with quarterly volumes reaching $126 billion in the fourth quarter. That would make tokenised gold the second most traded gold investment instrument in the world, after SPDR Gold Shares.
Tether Gold dominates trading activity
Tether Gold (XAUT), at $4,627.47, which made for 75% of all trading activity, was a big reason for the late-year rise. This was a big jump from 27% in Q3. XAUT’s website says that it has a market cap of $2.42 billion and is backed by about 1,329 gold bars, which is about 16,239 kilogrammes of gold.
The research indicated that such significant growth demonstrates a structural change in the formation of incremental gold trading liquidity, which is increasingly occurring on-chain rather than in traditional products.
Tokenised commodities expand amid macro uncertainty
The market cap of tokenised commodities has already passed $4.3 billion, which is a big deal. According to RWA.xyz, the sector rose by 18% over the past month. Tether Gold ($1.9 billion) and Paxos Gold ($1.7 billion) were the biggest contributors.
As macroeconomic and political uncertainty grows, investors are flocking to safe-haven assets, driving gold prices to historic highs. Earlier this week, precious metals rose substantially as news of a criminal probe involving Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sparked worries about the independence of the central bank.
The metal has also done well because of macro data. A US Consumer Price Index report that was worse than expected made people more sure that the Federal Reserve will cut rates numerous times this year. These developments put pressure on real yields and the dollar. Gold is more appealing as a non-yielding asset because yields are lower, and uncertainty about future monetary policy has added to its upward momentum.