Physical gold is valuable partly because it is difficult to produce, but bullion can also be difficult to move. Ownership of physical metals typically involves storage, insurance, transportation and settlement. Tokenization is changing that model by recording ownership of real precious metals on a blockchain, allowing gold and silver to move between wallets in a way that resembles the transfer of other digital assets.

The sector has expanded rapidly. According to CoinGecko, the market capitalization of commodity tokens rose 289% over the past nine months, from $1.43 billion to $5.55 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Tokenized gold accounted for most of that growth. Spot trading volume reached $90.7 billion during the quarter, exceeding the $84.64 billion recorded for all of 2025.

The market remains concentrated among its largest issuers, while a growing range of platforms is bringing gold, silver, platinum and palladium to different blockchain networks.

Tether Gold

Tether has established one of the largest names in tokenized gold through Tether Gold, or XAU₮. Each token represents ownership of one fine troy ounce of physical gold contained in a London Good Delivery bar. The bullion is held in Switzerland.

Tether’s March 31, 2026, reserves report showed 707,747.139 fine troy ounces of gold against 707,747.09 XAU₮ tokens, assigning the reserves a reported value of approximately $3.3 billion at the time. XAU₮ has expanded beyond Ethereum to BNB Chain. In July, it also received recognition as an Accepted Spot Commodity within Abu Dhabi Global Market and Shariah certification from Amanah Advisors.

Paxos

Paxos issues PAX Gold, or PAXG, another major token in the digital bullion market. Each PAXG represents one fine troy ounce of physical gold stored in London Bullion Market Association vaults. Rather than simply tracking gold’s price, PAXG ownership gives holders rights to the underlying allocated metal held by Paxos Trust Company.

Users of supported on-chain wallets can look up information about their allocated gold. Paxos publishes monthly attestations and says it currently charges no storage fee. In 2026, the company also brought PAXG natively to Solana as the first step in a broader multichain strategy.

Kinesis

Kinesis treats precious metals more like spendable currencies. Kinesis Gold, or KAU, represents one gram of allocated physical gold, while Kinesis Silver, or KAG, represents one troy ounce of silver. The underlying bullion is held through a global vaulting network and undergoes independent physical audits twice a year. Qualifying users can redeem the digital assets for physical bullion.

Kinesis has significant scale outside the two largest market leaders. CoinGecko’s 2026 RWA report valued KAG at roughly $350 million and KAU at approximately $270 million at the end of the first quarter. Eligible physical bullion can also be transferred into Kinesis’ vault network and converted into KAU or KAG.

Matrixdock

Matrixdock is positioning tokenized precious metals for uses beyond holding assets in a wallet. Its XAUm token represents one troy ounce of 99.99% pure, LBMA-accredited gold held with custodians in Asia. The company has also introduced XAGm for tokenized silver.

Matrixdock publishes information about the underlying assets and uses independent physical audits together with on-chain proof-of-reserve infrastructure. XAUm is available across networks including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Sui and Solana.

The platform has also moved into decentralized finance. In June 2026, XAUm became the first real-world asset accepted as collateral in Venus Protocol’s Fixed-Term Vault on BNB Chain.

Meld Gold

Meld Gold focuses on making gold and silver digitally transferable while maintaining a direct connection to physical metal. Its GOLD$ and SILVER$ tokens are each backed by one gram of the corresponding precious metal held within Meld’s network of vaults and facilities. The tokens are designed to be redeemable for the underlying metal rather than provide only synthetic price exposure.

Meld has strong roots in the Algorand ecosystem and has been developing a multichain approach involving the XRP Ledger. The company also aims to use blockchain to connect participants throughout the gold supply chain, including miners, refiners and retailers.

Aurus

Aurus extends its tokenization model beyond gold. Its tGOLD token represents one gram of physical gold, while tSILVER represents one gram of silver. The company’s model also includes platinum, giving Aurus one of the broader precious-metal offerings in the sector.

The physical reserves are held through bullion-industry partners rather than a single centralized storage location. Aurus says its metal is kept in audited and insured vaults. The company is also working with Chainlink on proof-of-reserves infrastructure designed to link the quantity of physical metal held off-chain with the token supply on-chain.

VNX

VNX combines tokenized precious metals with broader real-world-asset and stablecoin infrastructure. VNX Gold, or VNXAU, represents one gram of physical gold stored in professional vaults. The platform describes the underlying holdings as fully allocated and independently audited. VNX has also expanded its precious-metal offering to include silver and platinum.

VNXAU has been deployed across networks including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Stellar, Base, Tezos and Q. The company says its assets can be used in decentralized-finance applications for lending, borrowing and liquidity provision. VNX Global operates under a Bermuda Monetary Authority digital-assets licence.

ComTech Gold

ComTech Gold takes a Middle East-focused approach to bringing bullion on-chain. Its CGO token runs on the XDC Network, with each token representing one gram of physical gold. Secure vault operators in the United Arab Emirates hold the underlying bullion, while the project publishes reserve information and periodic custody reports.

ComTech’s transparency page showed 39,000 grams of tokenized gold and included a February 2026 audit report. The project also received an updated Shariah pronouncement covering CGO’s structure in March 2026. Fractional gold ownership, XDC settlement and Shariah compliance distinguish the project among smaller tokenized-metal issuers.

VeraOne

VeraOne has adopted a multi-metal model covering four major precious metals. Its platform offers VeraOne for gold alongside SilverOne, PallaOne and PlatiOne, representing gold, silver, palladium and platinum, respectively.

The assets are issued as Ethereum-based tokens. The company says they are backed by physical precious metals stored in secure facilities, including Geneva free ports. The tokens are designed to be redeemable against LBMA-accredited metal, subject to the platform’s conditions.

By covering four major precious metals, VeraOne has a broader scope than platforms focused exclusively on gold. Its offering includes potential industrial-metal use cases alongside the more familiar store-of-value role associated with precious metals.

Tokenized Metals Become Financial Building Blocks

Precious-metal tokenization is developing beyond the goal of making gold easier to buy. Platforms are turning bullion into programmable collateral that can be transferred globally, borrowed against, traded around the clock or integrated into decentralized-finance applications.

Those capabilities do not eliminate the associated risks. A blockchain can show how many tokens exist, but users still depend on issuers, custodians, auditors, legal ownership structures and reliable redemption mechanisms to establish that the underlying metal is present and accessible.

These factors may distinguish established tokenized-precious-metal platforms from simple gold-pegged cryptocurrencies. As the market expands, transparency around custody and reserves will remain important alongside liquidity, blockchain speed and token design.

Source: Metaverse Post