Bitcoin Faces New Rival as Tokenized Gold Surges Past $3 Billion — The Real “Digital Gold”?

Bitcoin has long been regarded as the ultimate store of value. However, a new generation of tokenized gold projects is making a compelling case for itself, grounded in centuries of monetary history.

As the gold price soars and blockchain-based gold tokens surpass a $3 billion market capitalization, the debate over what truly qualifies as “digital gold” is intensifying.

Bitcoin Faces Its Oldest Rival Again as Gold Goes On-Chain

Recent developments suggest that the tokenization of physical gold is no longer a theoretical experiment, but a fast-emerging market reality.

In April, Kinka, a subsidiary of Japan’s publicly listed fintech company UNBANKED, officially issued physical gold-backed tokens on the Cardano blockchain using EMURGO’s tokenization engine.

Meanwhile, BioSig Technologies and Streamex Exchange Corporation finalized $1.1 billion in financing to launch a gold-backed treasury management platform on Solana in July. The initiative, led by Cantor Fitzgerald, Needham & Co., and CIBC, aims to bring the $142 trillion commodities market on-chain.

The momentum goes beyond these. Tether and Antalpha are reportedly raising $200 million to create a digital asset treasury centered on Tether Gold (XAUT), backed by bullion stored in Swiss vaults.

At the same time, SmartGold partnered with Chintai Nexus to tokenize up to $1.6 billion worth of gold from American investors’ retirement accounts, allowing holders to earn DeFi yields without losing tax-deferred status.

The “Digital Gold” Debate Rekindled

The growing wave of tokenized gold has revived the Bitcoin versus gold debate, a longstanding philosophical and financial rivalry.

According to economist Peter Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic, tokenized gold will always beat Bitcoin, quashing the need for a US dollar stablecoin.

However, Bitcoin advocates think otherwise. On-chain analyst Willy Woo noted that while gold tokens like XAUT grew by $1.25 billion since launch, Bitcoin’s value increased by $2.2 trillion over the same period.

Still, sentiment remains split among other experts. Garrett Goggin, founder of Golden Portfolio, calls tokenized gold “the ultimate currency.” Goggin holds this stance based on a tokenized gold unique mix combining the store-of-value strength of gold with the digital programmability of crypto.

“Tokenized gold is cool, but requires a custodian; thus, counterparty risk is always there. Bitcoin’s removal of counterparty risk was the entire innovation. You must know this by now,” Erik Voorhees, founder of Venice AI, challenged.

Similarly, Vijay Boyapati dismissed tokenized gold as repackaging the same problem, centralized custody.

Ethereum and Tether Benefit Most

Despite the philosophical divide, markets are rewarding the tokenization trend. Based on CoinGecko data, over $2.7 billion worth of tokenized gold now exists on Ethereum, making it the primary blockchain beneficiary.

Tether Gold (XAUT) remains the most liquid and reputable tokenized gold asset globally. Its market capitalization is above $1.5 billion, and its price has risen almost 12% in the last month.

Tokenized gold and Bitcoin coexist, one rooted in physical scarcity, the other in digital trustlessness. However, as global demand for hard assets intensifies, the question of which truly deserves the “digital gold” title steadily moves from debate to data.

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