Gold-Backed Crypto Tokens Surge Amid Market Turmoil
In a recent report by CEX.IO, it has been highlighted that gold-backed cryptocurrency tokens have significantly outperformed other sectors within the crypto market, including stablecoins, in terms of market capitalization growth since Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. This analysis comes amidst an atmosphere of uncertainty and volatility in risk assets, particularly cryptocurrencies, as they faced challenges due to ongoing tariff debates.
On Thursday, as global markets reacted to the looming tariff uncertainties, tokenized gold once again distinguished itself, emerging as an outperformer in a sea of market carnage. The market capitalization of gold-backed tokens saw a notable increase, swelling to just under $2 billion by Wednesday. This marks a growth of 5.7% within a mere 24 hours, a surge that coincided with golds price climbing to a record high of over $3,170 per ounce, as reported by TradingView.
In addition to the price rally, the trading volume for tokenized gold has experienced a vibrant surge over the past weeks, largely driven by the broader turmoil affecting various markets. Weekly trading volume for these gold tokens surpassed $1 billion, a figure that represents the highest level of activity since the banking turmoil that the U.S. faced in March 2023, according to the CEX.IO report.
The two leading tokens in this space, Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), account for the majority of the tokenized gold market. Remarkably, these tokens have witnessed a dramatic increase in their weekly trading volumes, surging by over 900% and 300%, respectively, since Trump took office. PAXG also reported continuous inflows totaling $63 million during this period, as indicated by data from DefiLlama.
This rally in tokenized gold is closely aligned with broader gains in the physical gold market, which saw double-digit increases in 2025, fueled by escalating geopolitical uncertainties and inflation concerns. Despite this upward trajectory, even physical gold was not immune to the market-wide sell-off triggered by the U.S. tariffs, with prices suffering a brief 6% decline before quickly bouncing back to reach record highs.
Since Trump's inauguration, tokenized gold has emerged as one of the strongest performers in the cryptocurrency sector, boasting a market capitalization increase of 21%. In stark contrast, stablecoins saw only an 8% rise, while Bitcoin experienced a noteworthy decline of 19%, leading to an overall loss of 26% for the total cryptocurrency market.
Elena Petrova
