Gold Rush 2.0! 💰 Is This the End of Crypto? 📉

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What to know:

  • Ah, tokenized gold! That glittering siren song, luring the weary investor from the treacherous seas of crypto volatility. Its market cap, a dizzying ascent to almost $2 billion, a testament to the frailty of human faith in the face of tariff-induced panic. So, investors fled risk assets, those foolish things.
  • Trading activity, a fevered dance of desperation and hope, surged like a gambler’s last bet. Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), those golden calves of the digital age, witnessed weekly trading volumes rising 900% and 300%, respectively, since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, according to the scribes at CEX.IO. A dark omen, perhaps? 🤔
  • Amidst the rising tide of geopolitical tensions, a maelstrom of anxieties and the growing real-world asset (RWA) trend, a trend as vapid as a society ball, tokenized gold emerges, dripping with irony, as a favored safe-haven play among crypto-native investors, said Alexandr Kerya of CEX.IO. Because what’s more stable than gold in a world on fire? 🔥

As risk assets, those fleeting illusions of wealth, including cryptocurrencies, trembled on Thursday amidst tariff uncertainties, tokenized gold, that cold, unfeeling metal, once again emerged as an outperformer in the carnage. A victory for the ages, or merely a temporary reprieve before the inevitable collapse? 🤷‍♂️

The market capitalization of gold-backed tokens swelled, like a puffed-up ego, to just under $2 billion on Wednesday, up 5.7% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. A statistic, as meaningless as a politician’s promise! The rise coincided with the yellow metal briefly touching a fresh all-time above $3,170/oz, TradingView shows. A fool’s gold, perhaps? 🤡

Alongside the price rally, a dance of greed and fear, gold tokens experienced a frenzy of activity and demand over the past weeks, fueled by the broader market turmoil. Weekly tokenized gold trading volume surpassed $1 billion, the highest since the U.S. banking turmoil of March 2023, according to a report by digital asset platform CEX.IO. Turmoil, the only constant in this mad, mad world! 🤪

The two largest tokens, Paxos Gold (PAXG), Tether Gold (XAUT), those titans of the tokenized gold market, making up the bulk of it, saw their weekly trading volumes surging over 900% and 300%, respectively, since January 20, according to the report citing CoinGecko data. A feast for the vultures! PAXG also experienced continuous inflows totalling $63 million during this period, DefiLlama data shows. Money, money, money, always sunny, in the rich man’s world! 🤑

The rally tracks the broader gains in physical gold, which posted double-digit increases in 2025 amidst geopolitical uncertainty and inflation concerns. As if gold could ever truly protect us from the madness of mankind! However, even gold wasn’t spared during the market-wide sell-off triggered by U.S. tariffs, with prices briefly dropping 6% before quickly recovering to record highs. A fleeting moment of humility before the inevitable return to arrogance. 😌

Since Trump’s inauguration, a date that shall live in infamy, tokenized gold has been one of crypto’s top performing sectors, with its market cap up 21%, the report noted. By contrast, stablecoins gained a more modest 8% in market cap, while bitcoin declined 19% and the total crypto market lost 26%. The slow and steady tortoise wins? 😂

“Tokenized gold is emerging as one of the key diversification strategies among crypto-native users, alongside bitcoin,” wrote Alexandr Kerya, VP of product management at CEX.IO. “It provides a safer and more stable approach to portfolio management, enabling users to stay within the crypto ecosystem while benefiting from the value and stability of the underlying physical asset.” A gilded cage, perhaps? 🤔

“At the same time, the broader RWA narrative helps make gold exposure more accessible and intuitive for users who may not have considered it before,” Kerya added. Ah, accessibility! As if ignorance were a virtue! 😈

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2025-04-10 21:16