The tokenized gold market established itself as one of the fastest-growing segments in the field of real-world assets during the year 2025. According to the recent report from the CEX.IO platform, this segment recorded a 177 percent increase in its capitalization, widely surpassing several traditional financial products. This evolution marks a turning point where precious metal liquidity gradually migrates toward blockchain networks in a definitive way.
On the other hand, the study highlights that the total valuation of the sector went from 1.6 billion to 4.4 billion dollars in just twelve months. This growth contributed approximately 2.8 billion dollars in net value, which represents a quarter of all RWA market expansion at a global level. Likewise, the number of holders of these assets experienced a massive increase by adding over 115,000 new digital wallets during this period.
Furthermore, the performance of this asset far exceeded the decentralized finance market, which barely managed a marginal increase in its total value locked. While the DeFi sector struggled to maintain its relevance, real-world assets grew at a vertiginous pace driven by the security of physical backing. In this way, the digitization of commodities attracts retail investors who are seeking a safe haven against economic uncertainty today.
On-chain liquidity challenges the hegemony of traditional investment vehicles
A surprising fact revealed by the official source is the 1,550% increase in year-on-year trading volume for tokenized gold. In total, transactions reached the figure of 178 billion dollars, surpassing the combined volume of five of the largest ETF funds in the world. Therefore, this investment vehicle is currently positioned as the second preferred option globally to trade physical gold in an efficient manner.
Nevertheless, the market shows high concentration, as only three projects dominate almost the entirety of the total available capitalization today. Tether Gold, Pax Gold, and Kinesis Gold control 97 percent of the circulating supply currently, demonstrating user confidence in well-established brands. Similarly, emerging products like Matrixdock Gold have achieved exponential growth after integrating into innovative ecosystems of recent creation.
Do these assets represent a real threat to conventional stablecoins?
The CEX.IO report clarifies that these assets function more as a strategic hedge than as a direct replacement for traditional stablecoins. During periods of high volatility, traders prefer to rotate their capital toward assets backed by precious metals to minimize systemic risk. Consequently, this technology allows for constant and unrestricted access to markets that previously required complex financial intermediaries.
It is also relevant to consider that fractional ownership facilitates small savers participating in a market historically reserved for large institutional capitals. Looking toward the future, it is expected that the consolidation of high-capacity blockchain infrastructures will further drive the mass adoption of digital commodities. In short, tokenized gold has ceased to be an experimental niche to become a fundamental pillar of the modern financial system.
