Former Credit Suisse CIO: During the CME market closure over the weekend, tokenized gold accounted for "almost 100% price discovery"

Odaily Planet Daily reports that former Credit Suisse Chief Investment Officer Iggy Ioppe stated that during the CME Group gold futures market closure from 5:00 PM Friday (Eastern Time) to 6:00 PM Sunday, almost all visible gold prices are formed on the on-chain market. He pointed out that during this window, trading in regulated futures markets is paused, and while OTC trading occurs in Asia, it is not transparent. Therefore, tokenized gold assets like PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUt) become the only publicly tradable markets that remain active. “From the perspective of publicly visible price formation, the on-chain market accounts for nearly 100% of weekend price discovery.” When CME trading resumes, futures prices typically align with the fluctuations already observed on the on-chain market.

Data shows that the market capitalization of tokenized gold has risen to $4.4 billion, with approximately $2.8 billion added over the past year, a 177% increase, far outperforming most spot gold ETFs. In 2025, the total trading volume is expected to reach about $178 billion, with a peak of over $126 billion in the fourth quarter alone. Based on trading volume, it ranks second only to SPDR Gold Shares. On Saturday, amid U.S. airstrikes on Iran and escalating geopolitical tensions, tokenized gold prices briefly surged, with XAUt surpassing $5,450 and PAXG approaching $5,536, while Bitcoin and Ethereum retreated in tandem. Major participants include market makers, cross-market liquidity providers, and crypto-native macro traders, who use tokenized gold for arbitrage, collateralization, hedging, and yield strategies. Some institutions also monitor weekend on-chain gold movements to assess “gap risk” before CME opens, but mostly view it as a reference signal rather than a direct basis for trading. (Cointelegraph)