Crypto’s gold rush: why did tokenized gold return as a hot asset?

Gold returned as a hot asset in August, with several sources of demand. Crypto traders shifted to tokenized gold and perpetual futures as an offset to inflation, but also as a speculative asset.

Gold is not forgotten in the crypto space, and various forms of tokenized assets and contracts have spread across the ecosystem. While gold is off its all-time highs, the recent climb of tokenized to the $4,600 range came with renewed trading interest. Later, gold retreated to around $4,480, with XAUT trading at $4,474.72.

The trend of on-chain gold is still spearheaded by Tether’s XAUT. The token expanded with more minting in the past three months, while trading volumes remain near their peak levels for 2026.

XAUT gained decentralized activity through usage as collateral in lending. The token also saw more active DEX trading in August. As of September 2026, XAUT carried $3.15B in value. Another $59M flowed into Tether’s tokenized gold as of September 4.

Around $2.39M in XAUT is trading on Uniswap V3, increasing on-chain activity. Overall, XAUT and $PAXG are the most widely traded gold-backed tokens on decentralized markets.

XAUT is also available as collateral on Lighter, boosting the perpetual futures market.