According to statistics from the tokenized real-world asset analysis company RWA.xyz, the market for tokenized precious metals first surpassed the $1 billion mark on September 20. RWA.xyz indicated that the primary driver of this market growth is the gold token XAUT issued by Tether, whose market capitalization has risen from $384 million at the beginning of this year to $491 million.
Currently, the largest tokenized commodity is the gold token PAXG issued by Paxos, which saw its market capitalization exceed $500 million for the first time over the past weekend. Data from RWA.xyz shows that PAXG and XAUT together account for 99% of the market share.
Market Capitalization Changes of Tokenized Commodities (Source: RWA.xyz)
In other metrics, the number of wallet addresses holding tokenized commodities has continuously increased, rising from 40,000 at the beginning of 2023 to 57,000, with the number of addresses holding PAXG growing the most.
Notably, the amount of tokenized commodities being destroyed saw a significant increase from October of last year to April of this year, which may be related to the consolidation of gold prices during that period and the rise of the cryptocurrency market. After April, the minting volume of tokenized commodities saw a slight increase, possibly triggered by the rise in gold prices.
According to TradingView data, gold prices have recently been hitting historical highs, reaching $2,628 per ounce before this article’s deadline, marking a 27% increase this year.
RWA.xyz mentioned the developments in the field of tokenized precious metals on social media platforms. The company pointed out that global financial institutions, such as HSBC, are not only offering tokenized gold to retail customers but also supporting technological advancements, including the development of post-quantum cryptography suitable for tokenized gold. Additionally, more experiments are underway in this field, with “gold NFTs and tokenized gold-backed stablecoins leading the trend.”
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