Gold-backed PAXG hits record volumes, trades at premium to spot

Pax Gold (PAXG) reflected the gold rush that also took the crypto space by a storm. As BTC weakened, tokenized gold traded at a premium to spot prices. 

Pax Gold (PAXG) is trading at an all-time high, as the gold rush spread to crypto. PAXG also surpassed spot gold’s recent record to trade at $4,407.52. Spot gold at that time reached $4,364.82. 

Since PAXG is tokenized and trading with no limitations, this allowed for rapid inflows and bidding up the price. PAXG became the target of inflows as other assets weakened and BTC moved down to the $108,000 range. On-chain analysis showed the PAXG rally and peak volumes were part of shifting funds, seeking a way to park recent gains while waiting out market volatility. 

$197B in 24hr volume into Pax or Tether Gold, or flowed into/through stablecoins.
Seen anytime big bearish news narratives, also see it re-enter on bullish news narratives that follow.

Your money is not trash, dont treat it as such by entering garbage assets-know what u hold! pic.twitter.com/PqhFTVPbcW

— JoeBPackN (@JoeBPackN) October 17, 2025

PAXG was among the first gold-based tokens to rally, with all-time record volumes above $854M for the past day. The recent expansion followed months of treating gold-based tokens as relatively niche. 

PAXG also rallied due to its representation on Binance, which carried 20% of volumes. The token traded at a slight premium on Binance, at $4,410. At one point, PAXG spiked to $4,790 on Binance, reflecting a rush of bids. 

Gold-backed tokens become the day’s leaders

Other gold-backed tokens ruled the roost on Friday, as crypto assets stalled in their growth. This follows a recent series of records, with gold surging above $4,300 for the first time in history.

In total, gold-backed tokens lock in $3.39B, a relatively small part of the tokenization market and crypto assets as a whole. The main appeal of the tokens are the claims that each one of them is actually backed by gold in a vault. 

Not all gold-based tokens guarantee real reserves, or a claim to physical gold. In the short term, those assets are offsetting the weakness of altcoins and BTC, and are one of the major venues for hype-based trading. 

Tether’s XAUT claims higher reliability

As of October 17, the ongoing strength of PAXG is putting the token in the second spot based on market capitalization. Tether’s XAUT is still the most widespread gold-backed token, with claims to higher security and backing by physical gold in a vault. 

XAUT traded at a lower premium, around $4,373.04, still far from losing its top valuation and being displaced by PAXG. The token’s absolute peak was reached at $5,106, and the most probable reason was the drive to liquidate all short positions for the token on its derivative market.

The more active token is also seen as risky, as its premium price has also been followed by deeper corrections. The recent PAXG premium has been previously wiped out by flash-crashes. Additionally, the PAXG rally on Binance was also caused by liquidations, as some tried to short the token. The current PAXG price action is not as connected to the movements of gold. 

PAXG also drew attention after the stablecoin issuer Paxos minted 300T PYUSD by mistake.

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