Gold-backed cryptocurrencies spike amid global trade uncertainty
Gold-backed cryptocurrencies have surged in value due to the global trade war initiated by US tariffs on April 2. Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG) reached all-time highs of $3,529 and $3,520, respectively, on April 22. Quorium (QGOLD) and Kinesis Gold (KAU) increased by 8.5% and 7.6% over the past month. All four tokens have risen over 40% in the past year. Increased demand for XAUT is attributed to economic uncertainty and a desire for inflation-resistant assets. The price of gold rose from $3,115 to $3,335 per ounce within 30 days following the tariffs. Bitcoin (BTC) also increased by 14% during this period. The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market, including gold-backed tokens, has a capitalization of $21.6 billion, up 8.6% recently. Tether and Paxos back their tokens with physical gold stored in Switzerland and London, respectively. Tokenized gold offers advantages like instant settlements and usability for purchases, unlike traditional gold investment instruments.
