The RWA wave is accelerating the "digitalization" of real gold.

Written by: imToken

Have you noticed more people around you discussing "gold" lately?

Yes, I am referring to gold in the physical sense. With the increase in geopolitical risks and global macroeconomic uncertainties, the total market value of gold has (at one point) reached $30 trillion, firmly holding the top position among global assets.

At the same time, something quite interesting is happening in the Crypto world. Beyond Bitcoin, which is widely regarded as "digital gold," physical gold is accelerating its on-chain transformation: tokenized gold, represented by Tether Gold (XAUT), has gained new capabilities such as being divisible, programmable, and even yield-bearing through the RWA wave.

It is challenging a narrative that has long been almost monopolized by Bitcoin: "Who is the true digital gold?"

BTC: A Narrative Evolution Over a Decade

Is BTC a currency or an asset? Is its core function payment or value storage? Or is it a risk asset similar to tech stocks?

Since its inception in 2009, this question has permeated nearly every stage of Bitcoin's history.

Although Satoshi Nakamoto clearly stated the "Electronic Cash" attribute of BTC in the white paper, the evolution of its scale over the past decade has made this a topic of narrative reversals and community debates—ranging from an early means of payment to "value storage" and "alternative asset."

Especially with the formal approval of spot ETFs in 2024, this has become a turning point in the narrative. More people are no longer optimistic about Bitcoin becoming a "global currency" for transactions and payments; instead, an increasing number of people are beginning to view Bitcoin as a value storage asset with a consensus foundation, also known as "digital gold":

Like gold, it is scarce in total supply, with predictable and stable production, but it also possesses advantages that gold cannot match: better divisibility (1 satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC), portability (cross-border transfers in seconds), and liquidity (24/7 market).

As a result, Bitcoin is gradually becoming the third global store of value logic after the US dollar and gold in the macro monetary system.

Source: companiesmarketcap.com

According to statistics from companiesmarketcap, gold is currently in an absolute leading position among the top 10 global assets, with a total market value of $28.4 trillion, far exceeding the combined total of the next nine assets ($26 trillion).

It is worth noting that even when BTC broke the $100,000 mark, its total market value was only $2 trillion, merely about 1/15 of gold's total market value. This is precisely the underlying motivation for the BTC community's continuous emphasis on the "digital gold" narrative, aiming at the largest and oldest value storage target in the traditional financial world.

Interestingly, while BTC strives to align with the "digital gold" narrative, gold itself is also being "digitalized."

The most direct incentive is the continuous new highs in real-world gold prices and the RWA wave this year, which has led to the rapid rise of tokenized gold represented by Tether Gold (XAUT) and PAX Gold (PAXG).

Since they are anchored to physical gold, each token issued is backed by an equivalent amount of physical gold reserves, making these "digital gold" products a new financial species in both the Crypto and TradFi fields.

The "Emerging" Gold RWA Wave

In fact, using the term "emerging" for tokenized gold may not be entirely accurate.

Because strictly speaking, neither the currently largest XAUT nor the closely following PAXG are newly launched trendy products; rather, it is the current RWA wave and macro market conditions that have given them new strategic significance and market attention.

Taking XAUT as an example, its early development can be traced back to the end of 2019. At that time, Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, revealed that Tether was planning to launch a gold-backed stablecoin product called Tether Gold, and the XAUT white paper was published on January 28, 2022.

The white paper clearly states that each XAUT token represents ownership of one ounce of physical gold, and Tether guarantees that it has prepared corresponding physical gold reserves for the issued amount, all stored in "first-class secure Swiss vaults."

As of the time of writing, the total issuance of XAUT has exceeded $1.55 billion, representing approximately 966 gold bars (totaling 11,693.4 kilograms).

Source: Tether

In fact, in Tether Gold's white paper, we can see its clear positioning of advantages:

• Compared to physical gold, "gold stablecoins" can break down the difficult-to-divide precious metal into smaller denominations, making it easier to carry and transport, significantly lowering the investment threshold for individuals;

• Compared to gold ETFs, it allows for 24/7 trading of assets without custody fees, greatly improving the speed and efficiency of asset transfers;

In other words, Tether Gold believes it can help users obtain high liquidity and divisibility while owning the gold it is anchored to.

In other words, tokenization has given real gold the unique "digital attributes" of BTC, allowing it to be fully absorbed into the digital world for the first time, becoming an asset unit that can flow, combine, and be calculated freely. This step has transformed products like XAUT from merely being "gold certificates on the chain" to opening up vast possibilities on-chain.

Of course, this trend also prompts the market to rethink: when both gold and BTC become on-chain assets, is their relationship one of competition or symbiosis?

The Reflection on Tokenized Gold and Digital Gold

Overall, if we say that the core narrative of BTC is "scarce consensus in the digital world," then the biggest difference of tokenized gold (XAUT/PAXG) lies in "bringing scarce consensus into the digital world."

This is a subtle yet essential difference, where BTC creates trust entirely from scratch, while tokenized gold digitizes the traditional trust structure, as CZ recently stated in a tweet:

"Tokenized gold is not truly on-chain gold; it is based on trust in the issuer's ability to fulfill its obligations. Even in extreme situations, such as management changes or wars, users still need to rely on the continuation of this trust system."

This statement highlights the fundamental difference between tokenized gold and Bitcoin: the trust in Bitcoin is algorithmic consensus, with no issuer or custodian, while the trust in tokenized gold is institutional credit—one must believe that Tether or Paxos will strictly adhere to their reserve commitments.

This also means that Bitcoin is a product of "de-trust," while tokenized gold is an extension of "re-trust."

Of course, if we only look at the added value from the asset perspective, in the traditional financial system, gold's core value lies in hedging and preservation of value, but in the blockchain context, tokenized gold has for the first time gained programmability:

• It can be used as collateral in DeFi protocols, borrowing stablecoins on platforms like Aave and Compound for leverage or yield management;

• It can be integrated into smart contract logic, becoming yield-bearing gold, with the potential to generate income from gold;

• It can also flow freely across different networks through cross-chain bridges, becoming a stable liquid asset in a multi-chain ecosystem;

The essence of this change is that gold has transformed from a static store of value into a dynamic financial unit, endowing gold with Bitcoin-like digital attributes through tokenization—verifiable, liquid, combinable, and computable. This means that gold is no longer just a symbol of value lying in a vault but has become a "living asset" in the on-chain world that can participate in yields and generate credit.

Objectively speaking, in the current environment of tightening liquidity and weak alt assets, the rise of the RWA wave has brought traditional assets like gold, bonds, and stocks back into the crypto spotlight. The popularity of tokenized gold precisely indicates that the market is seeking a more robust and certain on-chain value anchor.

From this perspective, the rapidly developing tokenized gold under the RWA wave is not meant to (nor can it) replace BTC, but rather serves as a perfect complement to BTC's "digital gold" narrative, becoming a new financial species that combines the efficient liquidity of digital assets with the hedging certainty of traditional gold.

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