Tokenized Gold Stuck in Niche Despite Gold's Resurgence
Despite gold's resurgence due to macro tailwinds such as war, sanctions, and inflation, tokenized gold remains stuck in a niche. With $6 billion in market capitalization and trading volumes up 1,300% year-over-year in Q1 2026, it still can't compete with dollar stablecoins.
The reason lies in the architectural mismatch between physical bullion and digital assets. Tokenized gold inherits the frictions of physical custody, slower audits, and thin liquidity, blocking composability. In contrast, dollar stablecoins have converged on monthly third-party attestations with daily portfolio disclosure.
Gold spot traded at $4,262 per ounce on September 24, 2026, up 43.3% year-over-year, after hitting an intraday all-time high near $5,595 on January 29. Central banks bought 863 tonnes of gold in 2025, a 16th consecutive year of net accumulation.
Tokenized gold adds a blockchain layer, divisibility to fractions of an ounce, and programmable transfers. However, it keeps every other friction of physical bullion, including custody concentrated in London and Switzerland. Scaling tokenized gold to even $50 billion would require moving roughly 325 tonnes of metal into vaults designed for ETF plumbing.