Surge of IDR 74 Trillion, Tokenized Gold Dominates Price Discovery as CME Closes!

Jakarta, Pintu News – Global gold price movements are no longer entirely determined by traditional exchanges. When the CME futures market in the United States closes for the weekend, price discovery activity shifts to blockchain networks through tokenized gold assets such as PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUt).

This phenomenon marks an important shift in the crypto and cryptocurrency landscape, where 24/7 trading gives room for onchain markets to lead price formation while conventional markets pause.

As CME Shuts Down, Blockchain Takes Over Price Discovery

CME gold futures stop trading every Friday at 17:00 ET and only reopen on Sunday at 18:00 ET. During this time, the regulated futures market is inactive, while the remaining gold transactions generally occur through over-the-counter (OTC) deals in Asia that are not publicly reported.

As a result, tokenized gold instruments on the blockchain became the only transparent market and continued to run throughout the weekend. According to Iggy Ioppe, former CIO of Credit Suisse and current CIO of Theo, almost 100% of gold’s public price formation over the weekend happens in the onchain market.

He added that when CME trading reopens, futures prices often adjust to movements that have occurred on the blockchain. This means that the price signals that appear on PAXG and XAUt over the weekend are often reflected at the opening of the traditional market.

Also read: 4 Major Causes of Meme Coin Market’s Severe Slump This Month

Tokenized Gold Capitalization Reaches Rp74 Trillion

The surge in blockchain’s role in gold price formation comes as the tokenized gold market capitalization grows. In the past year, the sector grew by nearly US$2.8 billion, up from US$1.6 billion to US$4.4 billion.

This 177% increase outpaced the growth of the global gold market and most spot gold ETFs. The number of wallet holders also nearly tripled with more than 115,000 new wallets added.

Trade volumes are also setting records, reaching around US$178 billion or Rp3,000 trillion throughout 2025. In the fourth quarter alone, volumes exceeded US$126 billion or around Rp2,122 trillion. This makes tokenized gold the second-largest gold investment product in the world by trading volume, after SPDR Gold Shares.

Read also: Potential Altcoins to Watch in March as Bitcoin Starts to Slump

Trading 24/7 is an advantage when geopolitics heat up

The main advantage of tokenized gold is its ability to be traded for 24 hours non-stop. If a geopolitical event occurs when the futures market is closed, traditional investors cannot adjust their positions. Instead, cryptocurrency holders can immediately rebalance through PAXG or XAUt. Last Saturday, for example, tokenized gold surged when geopolitical tensions escalated due to US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

At the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) actually experienced price declines, showing asset rotation towards digital safe havens. CoinMarketCap data shows XAUt had risen above US$5,450 or around Rp91.84 million, while PAXG approached US$5,536 or around Rp93.30 million before correcting.

However, the liquidity of the tokenized gold market is still smaller than futures and ETFs, so large transactions can trigger price volatility. Cross-jurisdictional regulatory challenges and differences in custody rules also remain barriers to wider institutional adoption.

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*Disclaimer

This content aims to enrich readers’ information. Pintu collects this information from various relevant sources and is not influenced by outside parties. Note that an asset’s past performance does not determine its projected future performance. Crypto trading activities are subject to high risk and volatility, always do your own research and use cold hard cash before investing. All activities of buying and selling Bitcoin and other crypto asset investments are the responsibility of the reader.

Reference:

• Stephen Katte/Cointelegraph. Tokenized gold drives weekend price signals while CME futures are closed. Accessed March 2, 2026
• Featured Image: Generated by Ai