Gold Token Traders Prefer Holding, Not Lending

Tokenized gold reached $90.7 billion in Q1 trades as physical bullion prices skyrocketed, but only a tiny fraction of this digital treasure is being used in decentralized finance.

New research from blockchain oracle provider RedStone found that just $63 million worth of the two dominant gold-backed tokens, Tether Gold (XAUT) and PAX Gold (PAXG), are parked as collateral on leading lending protocols. This represents only 1.5% of their combined market capitalization.

The price of gold futures reached historic highs above $5,600 per troy ounce, but the data reveals a stark disconnect between speculative trading and practical DeFi utility.