TL;DR
- Crypto whales are aggressively accumulating tokenized gold (XAUT & PAXG) as spot gold hits record highs.
- Persistent negative exchange flows signal a long-term holding strategy over short-term trading.
- Tether Gold’s market cap hits a record $2.9B, driven by both price appreciation and growing demand.
Crypto whales are aggressively accumulating tokenized gold, with on-chain data showing a surge in large purchases of Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG).
The surge arrives as spot gold continues printing new all-time highs, first breaking Goldman Sachs’ target and now heading toward Bank of America and Jefferies’ goals.
At the time of writing, gold traded at $5,585, after Goldman Sachs and UBS’s $5,400 2026 price target was realized in record time. Now, the precious metal sits close to Morgan Stanley’s $5,700 forecast, and the $6,000 and $6,600 predicted by Bank of America and Jefferies, respectively.
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported multiple high-value transactions during the final week of January, pointing to sustained whale interest in gold-backed tokens.
On January 27, wallet 0xbe4C withdrew 1,959 XAUT worth $9.97 million from Bybit and Gate. Wallet 0x0F67 pulled 559 XAUT ($2.83 million) from MEXC. Wallet 0x1b7D withdrew a combined 194.4 XAUT ($993,000) and 106.2 PAXG ($538,000) from MEXC on the same day.
Negative Exchange Flows Signal Long-Term Accumulation
Wallet 0x6Afa spent $5.95 million to acquire 1,137 PAXG over a two-day period. A newly created wallet, 0x0E4F, withdrew 800 XAUT worth $4.22 million from Bybit hours earlier.
On January 5, wallet 0x8c08 spent $8.49 million to buy 1,948 XAUT at an average price of $4,357. Recently, BeInCrypto reported a sizable XAUT purchase, featuring among the largest tokenized gold movements in recent months. A single trader on Bybit exchange deposited 7 million USDT and withdrew 843 XAUT, worth $4.17 million.
Beyond individual transactions, broader on-chain trends reinforce the accumulation narrative. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows exchange flows for Tether Gold have remained net negative for the past seven days.
The situation signals persistent withdrawals from centralized platforms. Historically, sustained negative exchange flows are associated with long-term holding behavior rather than short-term trading. It suggests investors are positioning for continued upside or using tokenized gold as a defensive allocation.
Market data further highlights XAUT’s momentum
According to CoinGecko, Tether Gold’s market capitalization climbed to a new all-time high of $2.9 billion. It has been rising steadily throughout the past month before accelerating sharply in the final week of January.
The surge in on-chain activity arrives as Tether expands its footprint in the physical gold market. Crypto Economy reported more than one ton of gold is transported each week into a high-security vault owned by Tether, located in a former Cold War-era bunker.
The facility is now considered the largest known private gold vault in the world outside of banks and governments. The development positions the stablecoin issuer as a major player in the global bullion industry.
Together, the developments point to convergence between traditional safe-haven demand and crypto-native capital. Amid macro uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and expectations around monetary policy, whales appear to increasingly favor tokenized gold as a liquid, blockchain-based proxy for physical holdings.
With exchange balances falling, market capitalization rising, and large wallets steadily accumulating, XAUT’s recent activity suggests tokenized gold serves as a key bridge between crypto markets and the renewed global gold frenzy.
