Spot trading volume for tokenized gold products reached approximately $90.7 billion during the first quarter of 2026, already surpassing the $84.6 billion recorded across the whole of 2025, according to new data from CoinGecko’s latest real-world asset market report. The figures mark one of the fastest growth accelerations within the tokenized asset sector to date.
The surge reflects growing investor demand for blockchain-based exposure to gold as geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation concerns and currency volatility continue driving interest toward safe-haven assets. Analysts said tokenized gold has increasingly become a preferred vehicle for crypto-native investors seeking exposure to traditional commodities without leaving blockchain ecosystems.
CoinGecko data showed that centralized exchanges handled the overwhelming majority of spot trading activity. The report also noted that tokenized gold volumes fluctuated sharply month-to-month in line with broader market conditions and movements in physical gold prices.
Trading activity accelerated significantly after gold prices reached new all-time highs during late 2025 and early 2026. Monthly tokenized gold spot volume climbed to approximately $21.38 billion during October 2025 before moderating to roughly $14.07 billion the following month.
The market remains heavily concentrated in two dominant products: Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT). Together, the two assets accounted for roughly 89.1% of the growth in tokenized commodities during the reporting period.
According to the report, XAUT maintained the largest market capitalization among tokenized gold assets at approximately $2.52 billion, while PAXG followed closely at roughly $2.32 billion.
PAXG and XAUT Continue Dominating Tokenized Gold Markets
CoinGecko’s report showed PAXG and XAUT dominating both market capitalization and trading activity across tokenized commodities. Over the past 15 months, PAXG averaged approximately $5.72 billion in monthly spot trading volume, while XAUT averaged roughly $5.32 billion.
Smaller tokenized commodity projects including Kinesis Gold (KAU), Kinesis Silver (KAG) and Matrixdock’s XAUM expanded in absolute terms but lost relative market share as capital increasingly concentrated into the two leading gold-backed products.
Analysts said the dominance of PAXG and XAUT reflects strong liquidity advantages and investor preference for larger issuers with established reserve backing and exchange integrations. Both products are backed by physical gold reserves stored in vaults and allow token holders to gain exposure to gold prices while maintaining blockchain-based transferability and settlement.
The report also highlighted how tokenized gold has increasingly behaved more like traditional commodity markets rather than crypto-native speculative assets. Separate analysis from Chainalysis showed tokenized gold trading activity maintaining a stronger correlation with traditional gold markets and the SPDR Gold Shares ETF during Q1 2026 compared with prior years.
Chainalysis analysts said the trend suggests tokenized commodity markets are beginning to mature as liquidity deepens and institutional participation expands. Historically, tokenized gold volumes moved largely independently from traditional gold markets because of the relatively small size of on-chain commodity trading.
Tokenized Real-World Assets Expand Beyond Treasuries
The rapid growth in tokenized gold trading forms part of a broader expansion across blockchain-based real-world assets, or RWAs. CoinGecko’s report showed the overall tokenized RWA market growing approximately 256.7% over the past 15 months, increasing from roughly $5.42 billion at the beginning of 2025 to approximately $19.32 billion by the end of Q1 2026.
While tokenized U.S. Treasuries remain the largest RWA category overall, commodities have rapidly gained market share as investors seek inflation-resistant assets and blockchain-native collateral products. According to CoinGecko, commodities now account for approximately 28.7% of the broader tokenized RWA market.
Institutional adoption has also accelerated. Asset managers, fintech firms and trading platforms increasingly integrate tokenized commodities into lending systems, collateral frameworks and decentralized finance applications. Analysts said tokenized gold’s ability to trade continuously with near-instant settlement gives it structural advantages over traditional bullion markets and gold ETFs.
Market participants said the sector’s rapid growth demonstrates how blockchain infrastructure is increasingly being used to modernize access to traditional financial assets rather than functioning solely as a speculative cryptocurrency market. Analysts added that tokenized commodities may become one of the largest long-term use cases for public blockchain networks as institutional infrastructure continues maturing.
