PAX Gold is issued by Paxos Trust Company — the same regulated entity that issues PYUSD and USDG. Paxos is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and has completed its OCC trust charter conversion. Each PAXG token is backed by a specific, allocated 400 oz London Good Delivery gold bar stored in Brinks' professional vault facilities. Paxos publishes monthly reserve attestations verifying the gold backing.
Each PAXG token represents ownership rights to one fine troy ounce of physical gold in an allocated London Good Delivery gold bar. Holders can redeem PAXG for physical gold delivery, unallocated gold, or fiat through Paxos. They can also look up their specific bar's serial number and characteristics using the PAXG lookup tool. PAXG is available on Ethereum (ERC-20) and trades on Binance, Kraken, and Uniswap. PAXG reached a new all-time high of approximately $5,619 in early 2026 during gold's global bull run.
PAXG supply dynamically reflects the amount of gold held in custody — currently approximately 480,000 PAXG tokens. Each token's price tracks physical gold precisely. The market cap of approximately $2.2 billion represents the total value of physical gold backing the token. This is categorically different from a speculative crypto asset — the token's value is entirely derived from gold prices.
PAXG is the more transparent and better-regulated gold token versus Tether Gold (XAUT). Paxos' regulatory framework, monthly attestations, and NYDFS oversight give PAXG a credibility advantage over XAUT. Tether Gold has higher trading volume on some exchanges. Both serve the same core purpose — on-chain gold ownership.
PAXG's price is entirely driven by physical gold prices — if gold falls, PAXG falls proportionally. There is no additional crypto upside. Minimum redemption thresholds prevent small investors from converting to physical gold easily. Storage fees are charged annually on the underlying gold. Liquidity is thinner than USDT or USDC, making large position entry and exit more challenging.
Gold prices continue their 2026 bull run driven by de-dollarisation trends, central bank gold buying, and macro uncertainty; or on-chain gold becomes a standard DeFi collateral asset increasing PAXG demand.
Gold prices fall significantly in a risk-on macro environment as the dollar strengthens, or competing gold exposure products (ETFs, physical gold funds) remain preferred by institutional investors over tokenised gold.
We would become more positive if: PAXG is adopted as collateral in major DeFi protocols, or institutional demand for tokenised gold grows significantly as part of the broader RWA trend. We would become more cautious if: gold prices reverse materially, or Paxos faces regulatory complications affecting its gold custody operations.
PAX Gold is the superior gold-backed token option compared to Tether Gold, due to Paxos' better regulatory standing, NYDFS oversight, and monthly reserve attestations. For crypto users who want gold exposure within their digital portfolio without managing physical storage, PAXG is a credible and transparent option. Understand that you are buying gold exposure — the token will rise and fall with gold prices, not crypto market cycles.