When Bullion Goes for a "Run": How XAUm Turns Gold into a Productive Asset

From on-chain US Treasury bonds to the rising popularity of the concept of "digital gold," RWA (Real World Assets on-chain) has transitioned from a slogan to a tangible reality. Recently, as the price of gold has repeatedly reached new highs, more people have started to pay attention to gold-based RWAs. However, most gold tokens are still at the stage of simply mapping physical assets onto the blockchain, lacking the unique advantages of the crypto world such as composability. In the past, gold was often seen as a typical store-of-value passive asset; now, on-chain gold tokens can achieve "interest-bearing, collateralizable, and collaborative" properties (for example, they can be compatible with certain DeFi protocols, allowing users to earn yield; they can also be used as collateral according to specific platform rules and achieve interoperability between different applications). The key to this wave of RWA innovation is to bring traditional assets into an open blockchain financial network, enabling them to have verifiable, tradable, and composable characteristics. The XAUm launched by Matrixport has achieved the transformation of RWAs from passive assets to active assets through transparency, secure compliance, and a rich on-chain ecosystem.

Gold Token Backed by Physical Assets: What is XAUm

XAUm is a high-standard gold token launched by the RWA platform Matrixdock under the Matrixport Group. Each XAUm is pegged 1:1 to one troy ounce of physical gold (approximately 31.1 grams), certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), with a gold purity of 99.99%. This gold is stored by globally renowned custodians in high-security vaults in Singapore and Hong Kong, supporting offline physical redemption (with a minimum redemption amount of 1 kilogram gold bar). In other words, holding XAUm tokens is equivalent to holding an extractable amount of physical gold, with sufficient physical backing for its value and security.

Compared to some existing gold tokens, XAUm is quite innovative in terms of technology. It is compatible with both ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards, meaning that XAUm can be freely traded as a fungible token on the blockchain and can also be minted as an NFT representing a specific gold bar on demand (for example, when a user accumulates enough shares for a 1-kilogram gold bar, they can mint the corresponding NFT). This design allows XAUm to have both token liquidity and transparency for each individual gold bar. With support for mainstream standards, XAUm can flexibly integrate with various DeFi applications and wallets, serving as different forms of assets in different scenarios.

Cross-chain interoperability is also a major highlight of XAUm. Since its official launch in September 2024, XAUm has been deployed on mainstream blockchains such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, and has achieved cross-chain circulation management through solutions like ChainlinkCCIP. More notably, in August 2025, XAUm completed its native issuance on the Sui blockchain. Sui is an emerging high-performance L1 chain that uses the Move language and features parallel execution and sub-second confirmation. This deployment signifies a leap for XAUm in terms of technical architecture and ecosystem scale, allowing gold assets to enter non-Ethereum ecosystems in a "native on-chain" form for the first time, opening up new possibilities for speed and composability. Currently, XAUm is compatible with Ethereum, BNB Chain, PlumeNetwork, HashKey, and other networks, and has been listed on renowned protocols like UniSwap, PancakeSwap, Curve, Kinza, ranking among the top three in on-chain adoption rates for gold tokens. Whether you are on Ethereum, BNB Chain, or the innovative Sui network, you can easily access and utilize XAUm. This extensive network coverage lays the foundation for the circulation of gold assets on-chain.

In just one year, XAUm has achieved significant development and recognition. As a digitally gold-backed asset, it has successfully integrated the stable value of gold with the efficient flexibility of blockchain, bringing the ancient asset to life in the digital age. Gold is no longer just a static asset sitting in a vau< through XAUm, it can circulate flexibly in digital form on the blockchain.

Transparency and Governance: "See, Count, Redeem"

For all Real World Asset (RWA) projects, security and transparency are paramount. XAUm has set an industry-leading standard in this regard, striving to achieve "See, Count, Redeem".

Firstly, in terms of reserve transparency, Matrixdock regularly engages an independent audit firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of XAUm's physical gold reserves. In the first half of 2025, the internationally renowned inspection firm Bureau Veritas released an audit report on XAUm's reserves. The report indicated that as of mid-2025, Matrixdock's physical gold holdings in the vault had increased by 500% compared to the beginning of the year. There are currently a total of 421 one-kilogram LBMA standard gold bars backing the XAUm tokens. Each gold bar is individually inspected, weighed by auditors, and cross-checked with vault records. The audit report has been publicly released on the Matrixdock website, accessible to anyone. Additionally, Matrixdock has launched a gold holding inquiry tool where investors can track in real-time the corresponding gold batches and barcodes for each XAUm token, achieving on-chain transparency with third-party audit verification. In the RWA field, projects that disclose reserve details to such a high standard are rare. Through these measures, XAUm enables users to see where the reserves are, count how much gold each token corresponds to.

Secondly, in terms of governance compliance and redeemability, XAUm also provides investors with peace of mind. The physical gold behind each XAUm is stored in internationally renowned vaults and recorded on custody certificates issued by custodians. If users wish to redeem tokens for physical gold, after accumulating XAUm equivalent to approximately 1-kilogram gold bars, they can initiate a physical redemption request through the Matrixdock platform. Following the necessary KYC/AML identity and compliance verification, they can either collect the gold bars at the designated vault or opt for secure logistics delivery. The entire process is transparent, and the corresponding tokens will be burned from the blockchain during redemption, ensuring the on-chain token quantity always matches the offline gold inventory. Currently, Matrixdock has designated vaults supporting physical delivery in some countries and regions and plans to gradually expand to more global markets in the future. The redemption mechanism distinguishes XAUm from paper gold or pegged notes—users can retain the right to claim physical gold under specified conditions. This trusted redemption process is also a lifeline for RWA projects.

In addition to individual efforts, institutional endorsement also highlights the credibility of XAUm. In July 2025, Matrixport officially announced that its investment arm, Matrixport Ventures, strategically holds $3 million equivalent worth of XAUm tokens and plans to continue increasing its holdings in stages. As a global leading crypto financial services platform, Matrixport's move demonstrates confidence in the long-term value and stability of XAUm: on the one hand, incorporating gold into its financial reserves helps to hedge against cyclical fluctuations and inflation risks; on the other hand, this is also a practical action to support the development of the Real World Asset (RWA) ecosystem. As Matrixport CEO Ge Yuesheng said, "Strategically holding XAUm has become an important allocation for institutions to optimize financial reserves and enhance risk resistance." Not only did the parent company make a bet, but the public chain ecosystem also showed a strong interest in XAUm. In August 2025, the Sui Foundation announced that it would allocate part of its official reserves to XAUm, taking practical action to recognize the project and viewing tokenized gold as a strategic asset in the Web3 era. Institutions like Sui actively incorporating gold tokens into their asset reserves are still a first in the industry. These strong institutional signals undoubtedly enhance market trust in XAUm and indicate that gold tokenization is increasingly gaining recognition from more heavyweight institutions and organizations.

It is worth mentioning that financial centers such as Hong Kong are actively exploring a compliance development path for digital assets, providing a favorable environment for the entire RWA tokenization industry. Matrixdock has part of its gold reserves and business layout in Hong Kong, not only because of its sound gold storage and trading infrastructure, but also because the Hong Kong regulatory authorities are actively embracing compliant tokenization asset innovation. Since the end of 2023, Hong Kong has successively issued a virtual asset policy manifesto and a stablecoin regulatory framework, supporting the exploration of regulated RWA. Matrixport also signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's Institute for Advanced Study on 14 August 2025, with its gold token XAUm as the research foundation. The two parties will jointly explore the application mechanisms, user behavior, and channel strategies of RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization) in the global market, and utilize on-chain financial data to conduct visualization and risk monitoring research.

Gold Is More Than Just for Safekeeping: XAUm's On-Chain and CeFi Use Cases

In traditional thinking, gold is more of a store of value used for "buy and hold" to gain price appreciation; but in the on-chain financial world of XAUm, gold can be given more "active" use cases—making assets work for you, exploring more potential earning opportunities. XAUm is actively expanding its applications at both ends of DeFi and centralized platforms (CeFi), indicating that gold is not just for passive holding, but can also be used in a rules-compliant framework for collateralization, settlement, and participation in higher-level DeFi gameplay to enhance allocation efficiency and liquidity.

On-Chain "Yield" Gold: Continued Exploration of On-Chain Gold Token Applications

Benefiting from XAUm being deployed on multiple public chain networks, users can freely integrate it into various DeFi protocols to achieve yield strategies similar to stablecoins and other crypto assets. For example, on the BNB Chain, shortly after its issuance, XAUm enabled collateralized borrowing through KinzaFinance: holders can collateralize XAUm to borrow stablecoins such as USDT/USDC, with an initial collateralization ratio of up to 70%. On PlumeNetwork, which focuses on compliant real asset finance, XAUm is seen as a programmable financial primitive that can be used for collateral, settlement medium, and even participation in yield strategies. The Plume team points out that a pain point in the traditional gold market is that holding gold accrues minimal yield, but by tokenizing gold and integrating it into DeFi, "gold can be used to participate in previously unattainable yield strategies (active yield)." This showcases a new value proposition for global investors: they can enjoy gold's inflation-hedging properties while also using it for on-chain lending and savings products. It is imaginable that as more DeFi protocols accept gold tokens as valuation or collateral assets, gold will no longer be just a "dead stock" of wealth but will become an actively functioning part of portfolios.

Moreover, on the recently launched Sui Chain, XAUm is embraced as a "native asset" and has been integrated into a rapidly growing DeFi ecosystem. Sui's high throughput and low latency characteristics significantly enhance the trading and interaction experience with XAUm. According to data, on the day XAUm was listed on Sui, the decentralized exchange Momentum's XAUm trading pair saw a 24-hour trading volume exceeding one million dollars. This creates an unprecedented high-speed entry and exit channel for traditional gold assets. On the Sui network, XAUm has integrated with underlying oracles and wallet infrastructure: for instance, PythNetwork provides real-time price feeds specifically for XAUm, and the Sui native wallet app Slush has also onboarded XAUm to ensure users have a smooth user experience. Several mainstream DeFi protocols on Sui (MomentumDEX, Navi Lending, AlphaLend, AlphaFi, Nodo, etc.) are gradually completing XAUm integrations, supporting XAUm as a trading pair asset, collateral, or a source of yield.

Ecosystem Empowerment on Centralized Platforms

In addition to its exploits in the decentralized world, XAUm's playbook on centralized financial platforms is continuously evolving. As the issuer of XAUm, Matrixdock leverages Matrixport's comprehensive product line to empower XAUm and expand more diverse investment and financial channels. Firstly, the Matrixport platform already supports features such as XAUm collateralized borrowing. Users holding XAUm can use it for collateralized loans within the Matrixport app, obtaining liquidity without needing to sell their gold holdings. According to official announcements, Matrixport's collateralized lending product early on included XAUm in its supported list, enabling users to collateralize digital gold to borrow USDT/USDC, thereby facilitating "loan against gold without the need to liquidate" convenience. This is particularly useful for investors with short-term liquidity needs who do not wish to give up long-term gold exposure.

Furthermore, Matrixport also offers a dollar-cost averaging service for XAUm, allowing users to regularly purchase XAUm in fixed amounts to reduce timing risk and gradually accumulate gold assets. The XAUmSmart-Invest, launched in May 2025, is an on-chain dollar-cost averaging service based on smart contracts. Users can connect their wallets to the Matrixdock website and set the investment amount and frequency. The smart contract will automatically execute the purchase of XAUm at each interval. Supported assets include common stablecoins and some interest-bearing assets (such as Aave interest-bearing USDT), meaning users can even use other investment returns to automatically buy gold, achieving cross-asset class value appreciation. As Eva Meng, the head of Matrixdock, stated: "Through XAUmSmart-Invest, investors can seamlessly establish a gold position in small, high-frequency amounts without the need for timing the market, thus averaging costs while enhancing profit potential." Compared to traditional manual dollar-cost averaging, on-chain smart investing offers higher capital efficiency and intelligence: it not only eliminates the inconvenience of manual operations but also introduces space for strategy optimization (such as dynamically adjusting frequency with market fluctuations). In the current environment of high macroeconomic uncertainty, volatile gold prices, and significant financial market fluctuations, this tool timely meets investors' demand for a stable gold allocation.

In addition, Matrixport has developed a variety of financial products around XAUm. For example, to cater to different risk preferences, the platform may introduce structured products that combine XAUm with other assets, allowing gold to participate in these sophisticated strategies. Some innovative products even combine XAUm with volatile assets like Bitcoin, designing strategies such as automatic rebalancing or yield swapping, enabling users to invest in both gold and crypto assets simultaneously. For instance, Matrixport has launched the "XAUm+BTC Dual Automatic Investment" feature, which satisfies users' needs for long-term allocation with a "Long XAUm, Long BTC" approach through dollar-cost averaging gold and Bitcoin at a preset ratio. Leveraging these unique designs, the stability of gold and the aggressiveness of Bitcoin complement each other, offering investors a new path for asset allocation.

As seen, whether on-chain or off-chain, XAUm is rapidly expanding the application boundaries of gold. In the DeFi world, gold tokens can be integrated into various financial puzzles like LEGO bricks, generating returns and increasing efficiency. On CeFi platforms, gold tokens are packaged into familiar financial services, lowering entry barriers and unlocking liquidity. This traditional asset, through XAUm, transforms into a proactive digital player, playing a role in financial scenarios across different dimensions.

When Gold Bars Start Running, RWAs Truly Begin

Recently, the World Gold Council (WGC) released its latest research and pilot program on digital gold, introducing concepts such as "Wholesale Digital Gold" and "Standard Gold Unit (SGU)," with a projected gradual implementation by 2026. This development signals that as a key research body in the global gold industry, the WGC has also recognized that gold must move towards digitization to better integrate into the future financial infrastructure.

Meanwhile, XAUm's various explorations have been at the forefront of the industry, showcasing its foresight and insight, pointing out a clear path for the current Real World Asset (RWA) development: Simple on-chain issuance is not the end goal; integrating high-quality assets into an open digital financial system, achieving verifiability, usability, and high-speed circulation, is the true demand for RWAs in the on-chain world. Over the past year, XAUm has achieved a series of milestone explorations, from issuance and cross-chain expansion to deep DeFi integration and institutional adoption. These progressions demonstrate that the once "dormant" gold in vaults can be infused with the digital age's momentum, unleashing a value far beyond traditional realms.

When a gold bar "learns to run," it signifies a further convergence of traditional finance and the crypto world. XAUm's explorations indicate that the future of Real World Assets lies not simply in tokenizing an asset but in how to empower it with agency post-tokenization, transforming it into an "active asset": capable of trustful on-chain circulation, participating in various financial collaborations, thereby unlocking higher capital efficiency and innovation space.