Tokenized gold is quietly building a case as a financial tool in economies where volatility isn’t a market phase but a permanent condition.

The market for tokenized gold has grown over the past two years. By mid-2025, the combined market capitalization of the two largest tokenized gold products, Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), had crossed $1.5B.

Argentina’s annual inflation rate exceeded 200% in parts of 2024. Turkey’s lira lost roughly 40% of its value against the dollar between 2023 and 2025. Nigeria’s naira has been on a multi-year slide. For people living in these economies, holding local currency means watching savings lose value in real time.

Central bank gold purchases hit record levels in 2024, with emerging market central banks leading the buying.

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, particularly USDT and USDC, remain the dominant digital safe haven in volatile economies, with combined circulation exceeding $150B. Tokenized gold has to compete with physical gold, local currencies, and dollar stablecoins that are already deeply embedded in emerging market payment flows.