When the US dollar loses Trustless, gold RWA quietly becomes the new ballast.

As of April 2025, the overall market capitalization of the gold RWA track has reached 1.45 billion dollars.

Written by: ChandlerZ, Foresight News

On April 28, Tether released its first official audit report for Tether Gold (XAU₮). The data shows that as of the end of the first quarter, the circulation of Tether Gold reached 246,523.33 ounces, equivalent to 7.7 tons of physical gold, with a total market capitalization of 770 million USD, and each token valued at 3123.57 USD, having reached a historical high of 3423 USD on April 21. Each XAU₮ is backed by physical gold at a 1:1 ratio, with the gold stored in world-class vaults in Switzerland, certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and subject to regular independent audits.

On the surface, this is just another compliant and data-driven financial disclosure; but on a deeper level, it reveals the intersection of two trends: the resurgence of gold as a cornerstone of global wealth and the on-chain world's yearning for a trusted value anchor.

The Return of Gold is More Than Just Emotion

From the data, gold is undergoing a quiet structural inflow. In 2024, the net gold purchases by global central banks reached 1,044.6 tons, setting a record for the second consecutive year, with BRICS countries being particularly active. The central banks' continued accumulation of gold is not merely a reflection of short-term financial fluctuations, but rather an instinctive response to the future changes in the international monetary order.

In the informal market, gold prices are also reshaping their presence with greater intensity. On April 22, COMEX gold futures prices peaked at $3504.2 per ounce during the session, and the spot gold price on the Shanghai Gold Exchange soared to 832.42 yuan per gram, both setting historical records. The surge in gold is driven by a threefold force of supply chain panic triggered by the tariff war, deepening cracks in the dollar credit system, and the re-emergence of stagflation risks.

International financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and UBS have raised their gold price targets. Goldman Sachs expects gold to rise to $3,700 by the end of 2025, with extreme scenarios even reaching $4,500. A deeper variable is that the U.S. fiscal deficit rate has exceeded 6.6%, and the dollar index has fallen to its lowest level since 2023, with the trend of de-dollarization gradually unfolding. Gold, as a borderless credit asset, is regaining favor from all parties.

RWA Logic: On-chain Restructuring of Real Assets

In this wave of gold renaissance, not only traditional gold bars and ETFs benefit, but digital gold assets are also beginning to accelerate their growth. Tether Gold is just one of the frontrunners.

According to the data, as of April 2025, the overall market capitalization of the gold RWA track reached $1.45 billion, an increase of 13.28% compared to 30 days ago. The monthly on-chain transfer volume surged to $1.31 billion, a year-on-year growth of 127.37%. Although the number of monthly active addresses has decreased, the total number of holding addresses remains at 69,660, indicating that on-chain gold has increasingly become a tool for long-term holding rather than short-term trading.

In terms of market structure, gold RWA exhibits a highly centralized pattern. PAXG (issued by Paxos) and XAU₮ (issued by Tether) together account for over 95% of the market capitalization share, far ahead of other projects. PAXG currently has a market capitalization of approximately 460 million USD, while XAU₮ has a market capitalization of about 380 million USD. Other projects such as Cache Gold (CGO), TXAU, and WTGOLD are relatively small, with liquidity and compliance varying significantly.

More importantly, this sector is expanding in tandem with the spot price of gold. Especially against the backdrop of gold prices continuously breaking historical highs from 2024 to early 2025, the on-chain demand for gold has surged explosively, becoming a new phenomenon in the capital markets that cannot be ignored.

However, such explosive growth also reminds the market that different projects have significant differences in terms of asset authenticity, audit transparency, and legal protection. The true golden RWA that can stand out during turbulent cycles must have strong physical backing and high compliance standards.

In the Midst of Change: The Strategic Significance of Gold RWA

From a macro perspective, what Tether Gold represents is not just a successful product experiment, but a reflection of deep changes in the global financial structure. The standardization, modularization, and tradability of gold in the digital world signify the birth of a new capital freedom: transcending sovereign systems, resisting fiat currency devaluation, and serving global capital flows.

It is worth noting that the timing of this trend coincides with the uncertainty of US interest rate policies and the resurgence of global tariff barriers. Against the backdrop of an accelerating fragmentation of the global financial system and the continuous contraction of sovereign currency credit boundaries, gold has once again become a part of the supranational trust system. Gold RWA provides a new technological carrier for this trust system.

However, the road for gold RWA is not smooth sailing. The risks of pseudo RWA projects, the lag in legal governance, and the lack of a standardized clearing system may all become hidden obstacles to the maturity of this sector. On-chain gold requires the reconstruction of trust systems, the establishment of rule frameworks, and the true integration of traditional finance with the digital world.

The deeper challenge lies in the fact that, although gold possesses the characteristics of a store of value, it inherently lacks the mechanism of "yield generation," which creates a certain tension with the capital logic of the digital financial era that pursues high turnover and high leverage. The success of gold RWA requires the development of application spaces that truly align with the new generation of global capital demands in areas such as asset pricing, circulation scenarios, and cross-border settlement.