The talk between Gold ETF and tokenized Gold has heated up additional as consultants and traders speculate on which asset might convey higher returns on this market cycle. The belongings each present entry to gold however differ of their operational approaches, as capital appears to be like to shift extra into the tokenization sector.
Tokenized Gold vs Gold ETF: The place is Capital Flowing?
Tokenized gold markets witnessed explosive progress within the final yr. In 2025, its market cap elevated its web worth by nearly $2.8 billion. Its market cap rose from $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion. Tether Gold particularly grew by 6% to $3.7 billion in keeping with DefiLlama information.
This means that the market absorbed nearly 1 / 4 of the web RWA enhance within the final yr. Its web inflows are additionally larger than the web inflows in tokenized shares, company bonds, and non-US treasuries.
The variety of tokenized gold holders elevated by greater than 115,000 within the final yr. Its enhance was 14 occasions quicker than in 2024. In comparison with the opposite main RWA markets, the tokenized gold market elevated its holders by greater than the tokenized US treasuries and different tokenized bonds.
In the meantime, giant gold ETFs reported substantial asset flows, which doubled their asset measurement. Nonetheless, even on this context, tokenized gold has turned out to be a standout.
Tokenized gold grew 2.6 occasions quicker than the bodily asset. This outperformed a lot of the prime 7 spot ETFs. Among the many main ETFs, solely iShares Gold Belief Micro (IAUM) reported a progress of greater than 300% in asset measurement this yr.
Buying and selling Quantity Exhibits The place Adoption Is Accelerating
Buying and selling volumes of gold-related belongings witnessed a dramatic acceleration throughout 2025, with volumes rising quarter by quarter. By This fall, the buying and selling volumes of the tokenized asset surpassed a formidable determine of over $126 billion.
To place it into perspective, the buying and selling volumes of tokenized gold throughout This fall had been barely greater than these of 5 main ETFs. Nonetheless, there may be one ETF that stands out from the remaining , SPDR Gold Shares, or GLD, with its huge buying and selling volumes of $375 billion throughout This fall.
Compared with gold ETFs, tokenized gold would rank preciousbymetals’g volumes, forward of all the valuable steel’s ETFs besides GLD. Buying and selling quantity in gold tokens in 2025 grew by greater than 1,550% in comparison with 2024, a price that was nearly ten occasions quicker in comparison with that of the most important ETFs, which registered a progress price of between 100% to 150%.
