Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Algorithmic trading platform Wintermute has launched institutional OTC trading for tokenized gold products PAXG and XAUT.
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The company’s CEO forecasts that the sector could expand 2.8x to $15 billion in 2026.
Wintermute Launches Institutional Tokenized Gold Trading
Crypto market maker Wintermute has announced the launch of institutional over-the-counter trading for gold-backed digital tokens. This latest development comes as the sector gains momentum despite the bearish trend in the cryptocurrency market.
While speaking with The Block, Wintermute reveals that its OTC desk will now offer execution in Pax Gold PAXG and Tether Gold XAUT, the two largest gold-backed tokens by market capitalization.
Wintermute seeks to provide algorithmically optimized spot trading for institutional counterparties in search of exposure to gold via blockchain-based settlement.
This latest development comes as tokenized gold trading volume surpassed that of five major gold ETFs for the first time, reaching $126 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone.
Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy stated that,
"We're watching gold undergo the same infrastructure evolution that turned foreign exchange into the world's largest market. Gold is now following that playbook, and we expect the tokenized gold market to reach $15 billion in 2026 as institutional adoption accelerates."
Wintermute added that it will enable institutions to trade PAXG and XAUT against USDT, USDC, fiat currencies, and major crypto assets. This will help facilitate real-time hedging and collateral mobility.
The company added that demand has strengthened as gold trades near all-time highs amid persistent macro uncertainty and de-dollarization narratives.
Tokenized RWAs have become an important part of the cryptocurrency market. A recent research from ARK Invest projected that tokenized assets could surpass $11 trillion by 2030, while Standard Chartered has forecast tokenized RWAs reaching $2 trillion by 2028.
