Crypto Exchanges Emerge as TradFi Venues amid Tokenized Commodities Boom

Demand for tokenized commodities is increasing as investors look for safe-haven exposure through crypto-native markets that trade around the clock, rather than only during traditional market hours.

The tokenized commodities sector grew 10% over the past month to $7.69 billion in cumulative market capitalization, while holders increased by 5.8% to 189,390, according to data aggregator RWA.xyz.

Tether Gold (XAUT) makes up the lion’s share with $2.96 billion of onchain commodities, while Paxos Gold (PAXG) is second with $2.56 billion.

The growth underscores how real-world assets are becoming a larger part of crypto market activity. Tokenized commodities allow investors to gain 24/7 blockchain-based exposure to assets including gold and silver, while offering the ability to transfer and trade them through digital asset infrastructure.

Related: Crypto’s yield gap with TradFi narrows as staking, RWAs surge

Crypto exchanges emerge as new TradFi venues

At the same time, crypto exchanges are drawing more interest from traders seeking exposure to traditional assets through derivatives.

This trend is particularly visible during strong price trend periods such as the recent gold and silver rallies, according to blockchain data platform CryptoQuant.

“Activity has spiked during periods of strong precious-metal price momentum,” wrote CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, in a research report published on Tuesday.

He added that daily volume was overwhelmingly concentrated in gold and silver contracts, which reached $3.77 billion and $3.75 billion, respectively, on Tuesday.

Related: US financial markets ‘poised to move on-chain’ amid DTCC tokenization greenlight

Binance perpetual trading activity on the rise

Trading in those products has expanded quickly. CryptoQuant said Binance’s TradFi perpetual futures have generated more than $130 billion in cumulative trading volume and about 90 million trades since launching in January.

CryptoQuant attributed the rising demand for tokenized commodities and the precious metal rally to tariff-related uncertainty, higher interest rates and stronger safe-haven demand.