Wintermute, one of the top crypto market makers, has jumped on the tokenized gold trend and expects the market to grow threefold by the end of the year.
The firm unveiled support for tokenized gold trading, starting with Tether Gold and Paxos Gold, on its over-the-counter (OTC) desk for institutional players. This marks the first of its kind, signaling growing traction in the segment.
For Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy, the on-chain gold boom could follow the path of the foreign exchange market boom.
“We’re watching gold undergo the same infrastructure evolution that turned foreign exchange into the world’s largest market.”
He added,
“Gold is now following that playbook, and we expect the tokenized gold market to reach $15 billion in 2026 as institutional adoption accelerates.”
Will tokenized gold triple in 2026?
Currently, the overall market cap of the on-chain gold market is about $5 billion, according to Coingecko data. At $15 billion, that would imply a 3x market growth by the end of the year.
According to the market maker, the segment’s explosive traction is already evident. Wintermute believes that the tokenized gold market rivaled the top five traditional ETFs tracking physical gold in trading volume in Q4 2025.
The segment, led by Tether Gold [XAUT] and Paxos Gold [PAXG], hit $126 billion in trading volume in the last quarter, outpacing the top five traditional gold ETFs for the first time.
Source: Wintermute
Will the momentum overshadow BTC?
However, the growth is now being questioned by some analysts. For the unfamiliar, tokenized gold is a token that allows one to gain exposure to physical gold with additional advantages. It is backed by physical gold and supports 24/7 liquidity, instant settlement, and one can buy even small amounts (divisible).
These features make it a welcome upgrade to the traditional bullion storage or ETF wrappers. According to a pseudonymous analyst, TXMC, the challenges of traditional gold are what makes BTC viable and attractive.
Hence, the question – Will the tokenized gold boom dent BTC’s traction?
He implored,
“For ages now, a main story has been that BTC beats gold on divisibility, transportability, and being digital rather than analog. What happens to those advantages if fully backed, tokenized gold products gain traction and are highly liquid?”
In fact, Gaevoy recently told CNBC that the current market weakness didn’t drive capital out of crypto. Instead, the money “repositioned to tokenized gold.”
It remains to be seen whether BTC will trade as a safe haven again or if tokenized gold will derail it.
Final Summary
- Wintermute CEO projected that the on-chain gold market cap could grow 3x by the end of the year to $15 billion.
- Tokenized gold hit $126 billion in Q4 2025, rivaling major traditional gold ETFs for the first time.
