ME News reports that on April 19 (UTC+8), the "Crypto Finance Forum," co-hosted by ME Group and the School of Economics and Management at the University of Hong Kong, took place today in Hong Kong.Professor Lin Chen from the School of Economics and Management at the University of Hong Kong revealed that tokenized gold has become a central bridge connecting physical assets to decentralized finance by 2026.
Key research highlights:
- Market size and liquidity surge: As of February 2026, the total market capitalization of tokenized gold reached $6.1 billion. PAXG and XAUT account for approximately 95% of the market share. Trading volume grew by an impressive 1,550% in 2025, with decentralized exchange (DEX) turnover reaching $4.4 billion, demonstrating extremely high asset activity.
- Stability under extreme stress: Professor Lin Chen’s research covers “10-sigma gold crashes,” macroeconomic shocks, and geopolitical crises (such as the February 2026 situation). Data shows that tokenized gold remains highly anchored to spot prices, and its 24/7 trading feature provides the only global price discovery channel during traditional market closures.
- Financial Integration and RWA Innovation: Research indicates that tokenized gold has moved beyond simple "physical backing" and is evolving into a "programmable financial primitive." It is widely used as collateral in protocols such as Aave, enabling interest-bearing and lending functions, thus transitioning from a "store of value" to an "interest-bearing asset."
- Future Application Prospects: Professor Lin Chen explored emerging areas such as the tokenization of untapped gold reserves, the "wholesale digital gold" architecture promoted by the World Gold Council (WGC), and cross-border payments enabled by gold tokens through virtual asset cards.
Conclusion:
TOKENIZED GOLD addresses the high costs, difficulty of transport, and slow liquidity of physical gold through fractional trading with 18 decimal places, ultra-fast settlement within 12 seconds, and cryptographic verification. It is ushering in an era of an “optional digital gold standard,” offering global investors a stable, transparent, and efficient digital asset option.(Source: ME News)