The market capitalization of tokenized gold reached a record $1.4 billion in March, with trading volumes hitting yearly highs, according to CoinDesk Data’s monthly stablecoin report.
This growth in market value and activity coincided with a surge in the price of physical gold, which reached all-time highs above $3,000 per ounce. Tether’s gold-backed token (XAUT) and Paxos’ PAXG are the dominant offerings, with market capitalizations of $749 million and $653 million, respectively.
Trading volume with gold tokens exceeded $1.6 billion for the month, the highest level in over a year.
Gold-backed tokens’ market capitalization and trading volume (CoinDesk Data)
The overall stablecoin market, including tokens pegged to fiat currencies and commodities, surpassed a market cap of $231 billion this month, marking the 18th consecutive month of growth, according to the report.
Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin, also reached a record supply of $144 billion. However, its market share decreased to its lowest level (62.1%) since March 2023, as competition in the stablecoin market intensifies. The second-largest stablecoin, Circle’s USDC, grew by 7% in a month to nearly $60 billion.
Ethena’s decentralized finance protocol recently launched USDtb, a dollar stablecoin backed by BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund BUIDL, quickly accumulating over $1 billion in assets to become the 8th largest by market cap.
When it comes to trading volumes on centralized exchanges, USDT’s dominance slightly decreased but remained the highest among the top ten stablecoins at 75.7% for the month. Meanwhile, USDC and First Digital’s FDUSD saw their trading market cap dominance rise to 13.6% and 10%, respectively.
Regulatory changes are reshaping the market for euro-denominated stablecoins as exchanges move to comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Kraken delisted USDT and other non-compliant stablecoins for European users, following the lead of exchanges like Coinbase and Crypto.com.
Circle’s EURC stablecoin saw significant growth of nearly 30% to reach a $157 million market cap and claim a 45% market share of all euro stablecoins.
