As Real-World Assets ( RWAs ) gradually become an important narrative in the crypto industry, market focus is shifting significantly: discussions are no longer focused on " which assets can be tokenized, " but are beginning to turn to a more realistic question — which assets truly have the potential to operate on-chain in the long term and achieve stable scale.
In his recently released " My Crypto Predictions for 2026 ," crypto trend observer Jay Yu lists Tokenized Gold as one of the most certain asset directions for the future development of RWA . Within his predictive framework, tokenized gold is no longer seen as a fringe experiment but is incorporated into discussions at a more core asset level.
This judgment is not based on short-term market enthusiasm, but rather stems from gold's inherent " starting conditions. " As an asset long accepted by the global financial system, gold possesses a mature custody, auditing, and clearing system. This means that when gold enters the on-chain form, the real issue to address is not whether the asset is genuine or not , but rather how to lower the barriers to holding and transferring it, and achieve cross-regional and more efficient use.
From a practical perspective, physical gold lacks good liquidity in many scenarios. Cross-border transfers are costly and inefficient, and operational and regulatory restrictions exist in some jurisdictions. In contrast, on-chain gold allows for the possibility of " flowing like a digital asset " for the first time, making it easier to incorporate into the crypto-financial system and asset portfolios. This is a key reason why researchers consider it one of the most likely RWA assets to succeed first.
The macroeconomic environment has further amplified this trend. Against the backdrop of intertwined geopolitical uncertainties, inflationary pressures, and sovereign debt issues, the market has refocused on gold's core function as a " store of value. " Gold's traditional safe-haven properties have once again come to the forefront, and tokenization allows this property to directly enter on-chain scenarios for the first time, reaching a wider range of crypto users and institutions.
It's worth noting that the discussion surrounding tokenized gold is shifting from a focus on the feasibility of the concept to testing its practical operational conditions. The market is becoming more concerned with: How will physical gold be held in custody? Is reserve information verifiable? How will on-chain and off-chain data be aligned? And whether the system can operate stably in the long term under different compliance environments.
Driven by this trend, some platforms that built their underlying infrastructure around gold tokenization earlier are gradually coming into the industry's view. For example, Matrixport 's RWA platform Matrixdock launched its gold token XAUm , which is based on physical gold compliant with LBMA standards and focuses on underlying capabilities such as physical custody, on-chain verifiability, and long-term compliant operation. This approach emphasizes the improvement of infrastructure and system-level capabilities, rather than just focusing on trading products.
From a broader perspective, the next stage of RWA is no longer just about competing on issuance scale, but gradually evolving into a systemic test of asset selection, system stability, and long-term sustainability. Tokenized gold is frequently mentioned precisely because it presents a relatively clear and verifiable intersection between asset maturity, real-world demand, and on-chain usability.
Report source: https://x.com/0xfishylosopher/status/2003830142330900513?s=46
