With Gold Price at Record Highs, Could XAUT Replace Bitcoin as ‘Digital Gold’?

Bitcoin Gold RWA

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Olga Primakova

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Olga Primakova

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Olga started writing about cryptocurrency and finance in 2021.

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

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Last updated: 

April 21, 2025

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Key Takeaways:

• Gold hit a new all-time high, and tokenized versions like XAUT and PAXG followed with strong double-digit growth.
• Tether Gold became the top tokenized asset by market cap, with trading volume rising 625% in just one month.
• Tokenized gold is gaining momentum and could become one of the leading real-world assets in the crypto market.

Spot gold reached a new all-time high (ATH) on April 22, coming close to $3,500. Since the beginning of 2025, the price has increased by around $1,000.

According to TradingView, gold price has risen by about 25% over the past three months. Historically, gold tends to rise during periods of market turbulence, as investors seek safer assets during broader downturns.

Amid this rally, tokenized gold-backed crypto assets also surged to new highs. Tether Gold (XAUT) and PAX Gold (PAXG), both pegged to the spot gold price, are up by roughly 14% over the past 30 days.

Other tokenized assets not directly tied to spot gold price have also seen gains.

Tokenized Gold Is Rising Alongside Physical Gold Price

The rise in gold prices often reflects a shift in traditional markets, as investors move away from riskier assets. A similar trend may now be unfolding in the crypto space, with growing demand for tokenized gold.

Between March 10 and April 10, Tether Gold saw a 625% increase in trading volume, placing it among the top 15 crypto assets by volume according to Cryptodiffer. This ranking doesn’t include stablecoins, which also tend to gain traction when the broader market is under pressure.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino recently stated that Tether Gold will become the largest tokenized asset. XAUT already holds the top position in this category.

With both XAUT and PAXG reaching new all-time highs, some analysts and community members have started using the term “GoldFi” to describe this emerging trend in decentralized finance (DeFi).

A DeFi analyst noted that Tether Gold surpassed PAX Gold in just a few days. Both tokens run on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. If spot gold prices continue to rise, the analyst believes tokenized gold could become one of the leading real-world assets (RWA) in the crypto market.

Will Tokenized Gold Become a New Trend?

Some analysts see strong potential for the real-world asset market, although widespread adoption may take time. One of the main reasons for optimism is that tokenized assets could bring more liquidity into crypto by attracting institutional investors. This dynamic mirrors how Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs have opened access to new capital flows.

Currently, Tether Gold is not only the largest gold-pegged token but also the top tokenized asset overall. PAX Gold ranks second. According to CoinGecko, tokenized gold dominates the top 10 list of tokenized assets by market cap.

Some in the crypto community believe the RWA market is already gaining momentum. A DeFi analyst pointed to the rising prices and growing trading volume of both XAUT and PAXG as evidence, especially in contrast to Bitcoin, which has recently declined.

While Bitcoin is still considered a relatively “stable” asset in the crypto world and often called “digital gold,” the recent rise of tokenized gold raises questions about whether it could take over that role.

However, tokenized gold hasn’t reached full exchange coverage yet. One key milestone came when Bybit announced the listing of XAUT for spot trading, and the token is now available there. In contrast, Binance has yet to list XAUT. PAXG, on the other hand, is listed on Binance but not on Bybit.

Amid ongoing instability in both traditional and crypto markets, tokenized gold may well grow into a meaningful sector. For some crypto investors, it also offers a way to diversify away from Ethereum-based assets while other parts of the market remain under pressure.