Digital Gold Tokens
$XAUT (Tether Gold)
$PAXG (Paxos Gold)
These are crypto assets backed by physical gold (1 token = 1 troy ounce of gold). However, they mainly differ in jurisdiction and regulation, liquidity and adoption in DeFi, and their custody fees.
- Features
#Tether Gold (XAUT) -
Issuer: TG Commodities Ltd. (Subsidiary of Tether)
Gold Location: Secure vaults in Switzerland
Regulation: No strict regulatory oversight in the U.S. (Regulated in El Salvador)
Fees: 0% custody fee. Creation/redemption and physical gold withdrawal fees apply.
DeFi Ecosystem: Lower adoption on major platforms. Available on
#Ethereum and Tron
Physical Redemption: Users must own larger amounts to redeem actual gold in Switzerland.
- Features
#PAX Gold (PAXG) -
Issuer: Paxos Trust Company
Gold Location: Brink's vaults in London
Regulation: Highly regulated by the NYDFS in the U.S.
Fees: 0.03% commission fee when buying or selling. No monthly custody fees, but costs apply for redeeming physical gold.
DeFi Ecosystem: Very high adoption on platforms like Aave and Uniswap (ERC-20)
Physical Redemption: Can be redeemed for full-size or fractional London Good Delivery gold bars.
Which one to choose?
Choose
#PAXG if: You live in a jurisdiction that prioritizes regulated assets (like the U.S.), seek high liquidity and tighter spreads for trading, or plan to use the token as collateral on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Choose
#XAUT if: You want to avoid maintenance fees and prefer having your physical gold reserves stored outside the U.S., in high-security vaults in Switzerland.