Top trading firm begins offering PAXG and XAUt amid 80% market surge; sees tokenized gold reaching $15 billion by year-end
Wintermute, a global algorithmic trading firm and leading OTC desk in digital assets, launched institutional tokenized gold trading via its over-the-counter (OTC) desk, offering institutional execution in Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUt). The expansion comes just as tokenized gold trading volume surpassed that of five major gold ETFs for the first time1, reaching $126 billion in Q4 2025 alone – signaling a structural market shift.
Tokenized gold market capitalization has surged over 80% in three months, from $2.99 billion to $5.4 billion, as institutions seek 24/7 liquidity and instant settlement that physical bullion and ETF wrappers cannot deliver. With gold at all-time highs amid de-dollarization pressures, demand is accelerating.
“We’re watching gold undergo the same infrastructure evolution that turned foreign exchange into the world’s largest market,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO at Wintermute. “FX achieved its scale by moving off exchanges to OTC liquidity and continuous settlement. Gold is now following that playbook and we expect the tokenized gold market to reach $15 billion in 2026 as institutional adoption accelerates.”
Traditional gold exposure, whether physical or ETF-based, comes with custody friction, banking limitations, and market-hours constraints. Wintermute’s OTC desk will provide bespoke, algorithmically optimized execution in spot trading of PAXG and XAUt–the two dominant gold-backed tokens–for institutional counterparties to trade gold against USDT, USDC, fiat and major crypto assets, enabling real-time hedging, collateral mobility, and portfolio rebalancing that traditional gold markets cannot support.
The rise of tokenized gold reflects a deeper re-plumbing of global markets. Just as FX eclipsed other asset classes once it moved away from exchange-centric models toward continuous OTC trading, gold is beginning a similar transition driven by digital settlement.
Wintermute’s expansion into tokenized commodities builds on its central role in global digital-asset liquidity, extending crypto-native market structure into one of the world’s most systemically important assets.
Source: Wintermute
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