Tokenized Gold Emerges as a Standout Winner in Crypto’s RWA Boom

Tokenized gold emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of the real-world asset (RWA) market in 2025, significantly outpacing both traditional gold investment products and much of the broader crypto market, according to a new report from cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO.

The report shows that tokenized gold’s market capitalization surged 177% year-on-year, rising from approximately $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion. This expansion added nearly $2.8 billion in net value, accounting for roughly 25% of total RWA market growth in 2025. The performance stands in sharp contrast to decentralized finance, where total value locked increased by just 2%, while RWAs expanded by around 184%, positioning them as crypto’s strongest-performing sector over the year.

CEX.IO notes that tokenized gold grew 2.6 times faster than physical gold, which itself benefited from elevated demand amid persistent inflation concerns and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Adoption also accelerated rapidly, with the number of tokenized gold holders rising 198%, adding more than 115,000 new wallets. This growth exceeded that of tokenized U.S. Treasuries and other on-chain fixed-income products.

Trading activity further underscored the shift toward on-chain gold exposure. Total trading volume for tokenized gold jumped 1,550% year-on-year, reaching $178 billion in 2025. Activity was heavily concentrated in the final quarter, when volumes surpassed $126 billion, exceeding the combined trading volumes of five major gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

While SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) remained the largest single gold investment product by volume, the report estimates that tokenized gold, as a category, would rank as the second-largest gold investment vehicle globally, ahead of all ETFs except GLD. The data points to a structural migration of gold liquidity toward blockchain-based markets, where trading occurs continuously and settlement is immediate.

Despite its rapid expansion, the tokenized gold market remains highly concentrated. The three largest assets—Tether Gold (XAUT), Pax Gold (PAXG), and Kinesis Gold (KAU)—account for roughly 97% of total market capitalization, while the top four tokens represent 99% of trading volume. XAUT dominated activity in late 2025, capturing 75% of fourth-quarter trading volume, a surge CEX.IO links to increased confidence following a reserve attestation. Emerging products also gained traction, with Matrixdock Gold (XAUM) recording market capitalization growth of more than 1,000% after its integration with the Plume ecosystem.

Rather than competing directly with stablecoins, the report frames tokenized gold as a complementary hedging instrument. During periods of market stress, traders appear to rotate capital into tokenized gold as an intermediate option—less volatile than crypto assets, yet offering diversification beyond fiat-pegged stablecoins.

CEX.IO concludes that 2025 marked a turning point for tokenized gold, transforming it from a niche RWA experiment into a large-scale, liquid investment vehicle. While concentration risks persist, the data suggests tokenized gold is now firmly established as a meaningful component of both the on-chain RWA market and the global gold investment landscape.