Commodity-Backed Cryptocurrencies Hit 5-Year Minting Record Over Gold Trade Turmoil

Commodity-backed cryptocurrencies, that are dominated by gold-backed tokens, have seen a historic surge in issuance this week, with minting volumes hitting their highest level in no less than 5 years.

The leap comes after gold futures traded above a $3,500 all-time excessive this week, after the Swiss Precious Metals Association warned that the U.S.’s 39% tariffs on Switzerland might have “detrimental impression” on the worldwide stream of bodily gold. Both gold spot and futures fell after the preliminary surge, when a White House official informed Bloomberg that the President would introduce a coverage clarifying that imports of gold bars shouldn’t be topic to tariffs.

That did not cease gold-backed tokens from being minted, nevertheless.

The warning additionally noticed gold-based cryptocurrencies, together with Tether Gold

and Paxos Gold (PAXG), briefly high $3,390 earlier than receding. Minting volumes, per RWA.xyz information, reached $439 million over the week, greater than doubling the earlier $195 million file seen in 2021.

These tokens, which are backed by physical reserves held in vaults, allow investors to gain exposure to the precious metal and can be transferred instantly on-chain without crossing borders.

Switzerland, which refines a large share of the world’s gold despite having no mines of its own, exported more than $61 billion worth of the metal to the U.S. over the past year.

The move has triggered a political backlash in Switzerland, with some lawmakers calling for the gold sector to shoulder part of the economic fallout. The precious metal makes up over a quarter of Switzerland’s exports, per Swiss National Bank information.