Gold-pegged cryptocurrencies Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) eased from all-time peaks on Friday after a global financial market rout erased $2.5 trillion from shares in the United States.
On April 1, gold hit a historical milestone its all-time high of $3167.
Following on the heel of gold’s all-time high, both tokens spiked on safe-haven demand initially. PAXG surged to an all-time high of $3,191 while XAUT climbed to $3,190, both above spot gold’s high.
However, the momentum was weak. PAXG dropped to $3,074 and XAUT to $3,064, mirroring spot gold’s decline to $3,038 per ounce.
The drop came after President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs that unnerved investors and set off one of the sharpest stock market declines in years.
Goldcoin (GLC) — yet another gold-pegged cryptocurrency — also displayed abnormal price volatility. It rose more than 17% in the past 24 hours, trading at $0.01056 at the last check. Its 24-hour trading volume rocketed 2800% higher, but from a low base.
Although it is on an upward streak, GLC has one of the highest storage fees in the industry, at 0.6%, which could make it less attractive for long-term holders. Meld Gold (MCAU) maintained a relatively steady price of $57.66, up only 1.39% on the day after months of sideways action.
Analysts like Peter Schiff find that while gold acts as a hedge in such uncertain times, sizeable losses and sell-offs on-equity markets often lead to the liquidation of even safe-haven assets to meet margin calls or stem wider portfolio drawdowns.
On April 1, Schiff said, “Today, as economic uncertainty spooks investors, they’re again dumping stocks, but gold is rising. Gold has replaced Treasuries as the global safe haven. The implications are ominous” on X.
According to the latest data, the market capitalization of leading tokenized gold cryptocurrencies is about $1.59 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume of about $113.7 million. This is a 1.93% decrease in the overall market cap and a 43.25% decrease in 24-hour trading volume.