Tokenized commodities hit $6.126B market cap based on gold-backed token demand

On-chain data shows the market for tokenized commodities surpassed $6 billion this week, driven by a surge in demand for gold-backed tokens. At the time of publication, the market cap of tokenized commodities is $6.126 billion.

The market cap of all tokenized assets as of February 9 is $328.156 billion. It means that the market cap of tokenized commodities accounts for roughly 1.87% of all tokenized assets.

Tether and Paxos account for most tokenized commodities

The market cap of tokenized commodities on the Ethereum blockchain reached $5.933 billion, the highest among other blockchains. The market cap for tokenized commodities on Arbitrum One hit $98.112 million, followed by those on the BNB Chain and on the Plasma network at $26.87 million and $21.45 million, respectively.

Tether led other issuers and chains in tokenized commodities, holding a market cap of $3.57 billion, fueled by its Tether Gold (XAUT) tokens. Paxos followed with a total market cap of $2.31 billion, driven by rising demand in Pax Gold (PAXG) tokens. Pleasing Gold on the Arbitrum One blockchain also accounted for $97.82 million in tokenized commodities.

The Matrixdock Gold tokens on the Ethereum blockchain accounted for a total market cap of roughly $37 million. Matrixdock Gold tokens on the BNB Chain also accounted for a total market cap of $26.87 million in tokenized commodities.

The surge in tokenized commodities comes as gold has been testing new highs above $5,000 over the past few weeks. It shows that investors are increasingly turning to on-chain counterparts of the precious metal for greater exposure, offering stability alongside the efficiency of blockchain technology. At the time of publication, gold is trading at around $5,114 per ounce. 

Although gold tokens are still small compared to the overall crypto market, a market cap above $6 billion indicates they are growing rapidly. The overall market cap has surged more than 4x since the end of 2024, driven by an influx of financial institutions.

Paxos reported record inflows into Pax Gold in January. The influx grew the firm’s market value by approximately 1.68 metric tons of gold, bringing its total physical gold holdings in London to above 13 metric tons.

The rise in tokenized commodities also signals that capital is flowing toward assets perceived as safe and tangible amid heightened macroeconomic uncertainty and lower crypto prices. Tokenized gold seems to be the answer, allowing investors to hold a claim to physical gold on-chain with near-instant finality. 

Tokenized commodities raise concerns about ownership 

Tokenized gold has also brought some concerns about whether the physical asset backing the tokens is held on a one-to-one basis, independently audited, and readily available for redemption. The concerns follow several legal disputes arising from previous commodity-related bankruptcies, including the 2011 collapse of U.S. hedge fund MF Global.

Michael Ashley Schulman, Partner and CIO at Running Point Capital Advisors, argued that most of the risk in tokenized commodities sits off-chain. He raised concerns about whether the token represents a direct, bankruptcy-remote claim on specific allocated bars or a contractual claim on an issuer and its custodians.

Paxos revealed that its gold tokens are 100% backed by fully allocated, institutional-grade physical gold held in London vaults. The firm confirmed that the tokens are fully redeemable for physical delivery at any time. Tether’s website also claims that Tether Gold gives investors ownership of real physical gold.

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