Wintermute is expanding its institutional over the counter business into tokenized gold, adding support for Pax Gold and Tether Gold as on chain bullion grows sharply and demand for faster settlement rises.
Key Takeaways
- Wintermute added institutional OTC trading for tokenized gold, starting with PAXG and XAUT.
- On chain gold market value jumped about 80% in three months, reaching roughly $5.4 billion by mid February 2026.
- Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said tokenized gold could reach $15 billion by the end of 2026 as institutional adoption grows.
- Tokenized gold saw about $126 billion in trading volume in Q4 2025, topping the combined volume of several major gold ETFs.
What Happened?
Wintermute said on Feb. 16 that its institutional OTC desk now supports trading in Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), the two biggest gold backed tokens by market value. The move brings the crypto market maker deeper into on chain commodities, as professional investors look for asset backed products that trade like crypto but track real world assets such as physical gold.
Tokenized gold (PAXG and XAUt) tradable via Wintermute’s OTC desk
— Wintermute (@wintermute_t) February 17, 2026
‣ Deep liquidity in leading gold-backed tokens, 24/7
‣ Trading via chat against any quote asset
‣ Gold price exposure while staying onchain pic.twitter.com/SOjZ4bxJnM
Wintermute Brings Tokenized Gold to Its Institutional OTC Desk
Wintermute’s launch is aimed squarely at professional counterparties who want exposure to physical gold without relying on traditional routes like buying bullion, dealing with storage, or using exchange traded funds. By using gold backed tokens, institutions can gain exposure to the metal while still getting crypto style benefits like instant settlement and around the clock liquidity.
The desk will provide algorithmically optimized spot execution, according to the company. Institutional clients can trade PAXG and XAUT against USDT, USDC, major cryptocurrencies, and fiat currencies. Wintermute also said clients can settle trades in the method that suits their operational needs, including on chain transfers using stablecoins or other crypto assets, or traditional fiat settlement.
For trading firms and funds, this structure supports faster position management. In practice, it can allow a desk to open, adjust, or close exposures quickly, while moving collateral between venues more efficiently and reducing settlement risk compared with slower legacy rails.
Why Tokenized Gold Is Getting More Attention?
Tokenized gold has been one of the more active corners of the broader real world asset market. Instead of holding a gold ETF share or arranging physical delivery, an investor can hold a token that is backed by real gold and can be traded in smaller fractions.
Industry data cited across the reports shows the market value of tokenized gold rose from around $2.99 billion to about $5.4 billion in roughly three months, a gain of more than 80%. Trading activity has also surged. In the fourth quarter of 2025, tokenized gold products recorded more than $126 billion in turnover, and reports said that figure exceeded the combined trading volume of the top five gold ETFs during the same period.
Analysts have pointed to 24 hour trading and more transparent pricing as key drivers. Tokenized products typically show prices in real time, and investors can trade whenever they want, instead of being limited to market hours.
This activity has held up even as the wider crypto market has faced downturn pressure, with tokenized gold positioned as a stability tool and a diversification option for portfolios that already carry digital asset exposure.
Gaevoy Compares Gold Tokenization to FX Market Evolution
Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy framed the shift as a structural one, comparing gold’s tokenization stage to the infrastructure changes that helped foreign exchange become one of the world’s largest markets. He said the tokenized gold market could reach $15 billion by the end of 2026, pointing to rising institutional participation and demand for asset backed digital products.
The push into tokenized bullion also fits a broader trend in tokenization. One example highlighted in the reports was the tokenization of more than $280 million of certified polished diamonds in the UAE through a partnership between Billiton Diamond and tokenization firm Ctrl Alt. At the same time, other tokenized real world assets have been growing fast, including tokenized funds such as BlackRock’s BUIDL, which has reported assets under management above $2 billion, along with interest in bringing tokenized products to venues like Uniswap for institutional trading.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
I think this move makes a lot of sense, and in my experience institutional traders care less about crypto hype and more about settlement speed, liquidity, and operational control. Tokenized gold checks those boxes better than people realize. If you can get gold exposure with real time pricing, trade it 24 hours a day, and settle instantly with stablecoins or fiat, it starts to look like a modern market structure rather than a niche crypto product. I found the volume numbers especially telling. When tokenized gold can out trade major ETFs in a quarter, it signals that market infrastructure is shifting, not just that investors are chasing a new narrative.
