Returns on tokenized gold rise, XAUT drives new demand in the crypto market

Demand for tokenized gold continues to heat up on decentralized exchanges and lending markets

As XAUT's activities expand on decentralized exchanges, lending platforms and leveraged futures markets, tokenized gold has re-attracted attention from the cryptocurrency market. XAUT and PAXG remain the leading gold-backed assets on decentralized exchanges, and Uniswap's liquidity and collateral consolidation further expands trading channels.

The value of open gold interest contracts on Hyperliquid rebounded to nearly US$750 million, as whale positions were biased towards the bulls and traders responded to inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. Wallets related to Antalpha have accumulated a large number of XAUT positions, the growth in the number of holders and increasingly active trading activity on Ethereum, BNB chain and Monad have jointly promoted the popularity of tokenized gold.

After a strong recovery in August, tokenized gold has once again become the core of crypto trading. Traders use blockchain-based gold for hedging, collateral and leveraged speculation. Tether Gold (or XAUT) remains the biggest focus of this new event. According to CoinGecko data, XAUT is trading close to $4,430 after gold prices retreated from recent highs. Compared with earlier this year, trading volumes remain high. PAXG continues to work with it to attract decentralized liquidity. This shift reflects growing demand to fight inflation-linked assets. Amid global market uncertainty, cryptocurrency traders are also seeking new opportunities beyond bitcoin and altcoins.

XAUT Price Trend

XAUT leads the latest expansion of tokenized gold in the decentralized finance sector. Tether has increased its supply in recent months as demand from traders and large wallets increases.

Market activity accelerated in August, with trading volumes approaching their 2026 highs. The utility of the token in lending platforms and collateral markets has also been improved. About $2.39 million of XAUT liquidity was reportedly traded through Uniswap V3. Such activities help deepen decentralized access and go beyond the scope of centralized exchanges.

XAUT and PAXG have now become among the most actively traded gold-backed assets on decentralized exchanges. Their liquidity provides direct risk exposure to cryptocurrency traders without leaving the blockchain market.

The Lighter platform also adds XAUT as collateral, linking gold exposure to perpetual contract trading. This consolidation expands the role of the token beyond simple physical ownership. Holder activity has expanded accordingly. According to RWA.xyz, XAUT has 84,756 wallets, a growth rate of more than 16% in 30 days.

During August, the value of transfers on the global chain exceeded US$4.6 billion. As demand is spread across multiple networks, the number of active addresses exceeds 53,000. Ethereum still hosts most of the token supply, but BNB Chain and Monad have recently received more supplies, indicating wider use in emerging decentralized applications.

Tokenized gold gains momentum in perpetual contract trading

Through HIP-3, gold has also returned to Hyperliquid's main perpetual contract market. The value of open interest climbed to nearly US$750 million, with daily trading volume of approximately US$299 million.

Large traders mainly hold long positions. The largest long position tracked had unrealized gains of more than $273,000. Shorts are under greater pressure, with the largest short position reported on September 4 showing an unrealized loss of nearly $2.2 million.

Renewed interest stems from stronger demand for defensive assets, especially in the context of inflation concerns and geopolitical uncertainty. Gold also benefits from traders seeking semiconductor-related alternatives. Tokenized gold provides these traders with a familiar macro asset while also having native cryptocurrency settlement capabilities. It also allows faster movement between collateral, spot trading and leveraged markets.

A large wallet most likely related to Antalpha has attracted attention. The wallet accumulated positions of 1,000 units several times when the gold price was close to US$4,000. As of September 4, the wallet held approximately 16,120 XAUTs worth more than $71 million. The wallet shows an inflow of funds but no visible cash outflow activity.

Another wallet related to Antalpha holds more than 33,000 units and other assets. Some related wallets actively trade gold and transfer funds to Bitfinex. Some positions also enter custody through Cobo.com These activities demonstrate that professional investors are using multiple channels for storage and execution.

This accumulation is remarkable because repeated purchases occurred during gold's early rise. As prices advanced in August, these positions gained value. XAUT remains the main tokenized gold asset driving interest in the crypto market. Its expanding collateral role, decentralized exchange liquidity and whale ownership are creating more trading paths.

As decentralized liquidity improves in major chains, markets are becoming less dependent on centralized exchanges. This shift may help tokenized gold compete more directly with stablecoins and other real-world assets used as collateral for transactions.