When Gold Bars Learn to "Run": How XAUm Turns Gold into an Active Asset

From tokenizing US Treasuries to the rise of the "digital gold" concept, RWA (Real World Assets) has evolved from a slogan to a tangible variable. Recently, the repeatedly record-breaking gold price has drawn more attention to gold RWA. However, most gold tokens are still limited to simply mapping physical assets on-chain, lacking the composability and other advantages unique to the crypto world. In the past, gold was often seen as a typical passive store-of-value asset; now, on-chain gold tokens can "generate yield, be used as collateral, and collaborate" (for example, they are compatible with certain DeFi protocols, allowing users to access yield opportunities, or can be used as collateral according to specific platform rules, and achieve interoperability across different applications). The key to this wave of RWA innovation is integrating traditional assets into open on-chain financial networks, endowing them with verifiability, tradability, and composability. XAUm, launched by Matrixdock, transforms RWA from passive to active assets through transparency, security, compliance, and a rich on-chain ecosystem.

Gold Tokens Backed by Physical Assets: What is XAUm?

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

Compared to some existing gold tokens, XAUm is technically innovative. It is compatible with both ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards—meaning XAUm can be freely traded as a fungible token on-chain, or minted as an NFT representing a specific gold bar as needed (for example, when a user accumulates enough for 1 kilogram of gold, they can mint an NFT corresponding to that gold bar). This design gives XAUm both the liquidity of a token and the transparency of independent identification for each gold bar. With support for mainstream standards, XAUm can flexibly access various DeFi applications and wallets, serving as different forms of assets in different scenarios.

Multi-chain interoperability is also a major highlight of XAUm. Since its official issuance in September 2024, XAUm has been deployed on major blockchains such as Ethereum and BNB Chain, and achieved cross-chain circulation management through solutions like ChainlinkCCIP. Even more notably, in August 2025, XAUm completed its native issuance on the Sui public chain. Sui is an emerging high-performance L1 chain using the Move language, featuring parallel execution and sub-second confirmation. This deployment marks a leap in XAUm's technical architecture and ecosystem scale, allowing gold assets to enter the non-Ethereum ecosystem as "on-chain native" assets for the first time, opening up new possibilities for speed and composability. Currently, XAUm is compatible with multiple networks including Ethereum, BNB Chain, PlumeNetwork, and HashKey, and has been listed on well-known protocols such as UniSwap, PancakeSwap, Curve, and Kinza, ranking among the top three gold tokens in on-chain adoption. Whether you are on Ethereum, BNB Chain, or the up-and-coming Sui network, you can easily acquire and use XAUm. This extensive network coverage lays the foundation for the circulation of gold assets on-chain.

In just one year, XAUm has achieved remarkable development and recognition. As a physically-backed digital gold, it successfully combines the stable value of gold with the flexibility and efficiency of blockchain, breathing new life into this ancient asset in the digital age. Gold is no longer just a static asset lying dormant in vaults; through XAUm, it can circulate flexibly on-chain in digital form.

Transparency and Governance: "Visible, Calculable, and Redeemable"

For all RWA projects, security and transparency are lifelines. XAUm sets a high industry standard in this regard, striving to achieve "visible, calculable, and redeemable."

First, in terms of reserve transparency, Matrixdock regularly engages independent audit institutions to conduct comprehensive audits of XAUm's physical gold reserves. In the first half of 2025, the internationally authoritative inspection agency Bureau Veritas released an audit report on XAUm's reserves. The report shows that as of mid-2025, Matrixdock's vault physical gold holdings increased by 500% compared to the beginning of the year. Currently, there are 421 one-kilogram LBMA standard gold bars supporting XAUm tokens. Each gold bar is individually inspected and weighed by auditors and cross-checked with vault records. The audit report has been publicly released on Matrixdock's official website and is accessible to anyone. In addition, Matrixdock has launched a gold holding inquiry tool, allowing investors to track the batch and barcode of gold corresponding to each XAUm in real time through on-chain data, achieving dual verification of on-chain transparency and third-party audits. In the RWA field, projects that disclose reserve details to such a high standard are extremely rare. With these measures, XAUm enables users to see where the reserves are and accurately calculate how much gold each token represents.

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 about 1 kilogram gold bar, they can submit a physical redemption request via the Matrixdock platform; after completing the necessary KYC/AML identity and compliance verification, they can collect the gold bar at the designated vault or choose secure logistics delivery. The entire process is open and transparent, and the corresponding tokens are burned on-chain upon redemption, ensuring that the number of on-chain tokens always matches the offline gold inventory. Currently, Matrixdock has designated vaults in certain countries and regions to support physical delivery, and plans to gradually expand to more global markets in the future. The redemption arrangement distinguishes XAUm from paper gold or linked notes—users can retain the right to claim physical gold under compliant circumstances. This reliable redemption mechanism is also one of the lifelines of RWA projects.

In addition to its own efforts, institutional participation and endorsement also highlight XAUm's credibility. In July 2025, Matrixport officially announced that its investment arm, Matrixport Ventures, had strategically held XAUm tokens worth 3 million USD and planned to increase its holdings in phases. As a global leading crypto financial services platform, Matrixport's move demonstrates confidence in XAUm's long-term value and stability: on one hand, including gold in its financial reserves helps hedge against cyclical fluctuations and inflation risks; on the other hand, it is a practical action to support the development of the RWA ecosystem. As Matrixport CEO John Ge said, "Strategically holding XAUm has become an important configuration for institutions to optimize financial reserves and enhance risk resistance." Not only is the parent company betting on it, but public chain ecosystems are also showing strong interest in XAUm. In August 2025, the Sui Foundation announced it would allocate part of its official reserve funds to XAUm, recognizing this project in practice and regarding tokenized gold as a strategic asset in the on-chain asset portfolio of the Web3 era. It is the first time in the industry that an institution like Sui has proactively included gold tokens in its asset reserves. These strong institutional signals undoubtedly enhance market trust in XAUm and indicate that gold tokenization is gaining recognition from more heavyweight institutions and organizations.

It is worth mentioning that financial centers such as Hong Kong are actively exploring compliant development paths for digital assets, providing a favorable environment for the entire RWA tokenization industry. Matrixdock has located part of its gold storage and business layout in Hong Kong, not only because of its sound gold warehousing and trading infrastructure, but also because Hong Kong regulators are actively embracing compliant tokenized asset innovation. Since the end of 2023, Hong Kong has successively issued virtual asset policy statements and stablecoin regulatory frameworks, supporting RWA exploration under a regulated environment. On August 14, 2025, Matrixport also signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the Institute of Financial Research at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, using its gold token XAUm as the research basis. The two parties will jointly explore the application mechanisms, user behavior, and channel strategies of RWA (real asset tokenization) in global markets, and conduct visualization and risk monitoring research using on-chain financial data.

Gold Is Not Just for Storage: On-Chain and CeFi Use Cases of XAUm

Traditionally, gold is mostly used as a store-of-value for "buy and hold" to gain price appreciation; but in XAUm's on-chain financial world, gold can be given more "active" uses—making assets work and exploring more potential yield opportunities. XAUm is actively expanding its applications on both DeFi and centralized platforms (CeFi), demonstrating that gold is not just for passive holding, but can also be used for collateral, settlement, and participation in more advanced DeFi strategies under relevant rules, improving allocation efficiency and liquidity.

Yield-Generating Gold On-Chain: Continuous Exploration of Gold Token Applications

Thanks to XAUm's deployment on multiple public chain networks, users can freely integrate it into various DeFi protocols, implementing yield strategies similar to stablecoins and other crypto assets. For example, on BNB Chain, XAUm enabled collateralized lending via KinzaFinance shortly after issuance: holders can collateralize XAUm to borrow USDT/USDC and other stablecoins, with an initial collateral ratio of up to 70%. On PlumeNetwork, which focuses on compliant real asset finance, XAUm is regarded as a programmable financial primitive, usable as collateral, a liquidation medium, and even for yield strategies. The Plume team points out that a pain point in the traditional gold market is that holding gold yields almost no return, but by tokenizing gold and connecting it to DeFi, "gold can be used to participate in previously unattainable yield strategies (active yield)." This showcases a new value for global investors: they can enjoy gold's anti-inflation and hedging properties, while also using it for on-chain lending and deposit products. It is imaginable that as more DeFi protocols accept gold tokens as pricing or collateral assets, gold will no longer be a "dead inventory" of wealth, but an actively operating component in investment portfolios.

On the recently launched Sui chain, XAUm, as a "native asset," has integrated into a rapidly developing emerging DeFi ecosystem. Sui's high throughput and low latency greatly enhance XAUm's trading and interaction experience. According to data, on the day XAUm was launched on Sui, the XAUm trading pair on the decentralized exchange Momentum exceeded 1 million USD in 24-hour trading volume. This opens up an unprecedented high-speed channel for traditional gold assets. On the Sui network, XAUm has integrated with underlying oracle and wallet infrastructure: for example, PythNetwork provides real-time price feeds for XAUm, and the native Sui wallet application Slush has also listed XAUm, ensuring a smooth user experience. Several mainstream DeFi protocols on Sui (MomentumDEX, Navi Lending, AlphaLend, AlphaFi, Nodo, etc.) are successively completing XAUm integration, supporting XAUm as a trading pair asset, collateral, or yield source.

Ecological Empowerment on Centralized Platforms

In addition to thriving in the decentralized world, XAUm's use cases on centralized financial platforms are also continuously expanding. As the issuer of XAUm, Matrixdock leverages Matrixport's comprehensive product line to empower XAUm and expand more diverse investment and wealth management channels. Firstly, the Matrixport platform already supports XAUm collateralized lending and other functions. Users holding XAUm can use it for collateralized loans within the Matrixport app, obtaining liquidity without selling their gold holdings. According to official announcements, Matrixport's collateralized lending products included XAUm in their supported list early on, allowing users to pledge digital gold to borrow USDT/USDC, thus achieving the convenience of "borrowing without liquidating gold." This is very practical for investors who need short-term liquidity but do not want to give up long-term gold allocation.

Secondly, Matrixport also provides a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) service for XAUm, allowing users to regularly and systematically purchase XAUm, reducing timing risk and gradually accumulating gold assets. XAUmSmart-Invest, released in May 2025, is an on-chain DCA service based on smart contracts. After connecting their wallets and setting investment amounts and frequency on the Matrixdock website, the smart contract will automatically execute XAUm DCA purchases each cycle. Supported assets include regular stablecoins and some yield-bearing assets (such as Aave interest-bearing USDT), meaning users can even use other investment returns to automatically buy gold, achieving cross-category asset appreciation. As Matrixdock head Eva Meng said: "With XAUmSmart-Invest, investors can seamlessly build gold positions in small, high-frequency increments without timing the market, averaging costs while increasing profit potential." Compared to traditional manual DCA, on-chain smart DCA offers higher capital efficiency and intelligence: it not only eliminates the inconvenience of manual operations but also introduces strategy optimization space (such as dynamically adjusting frequency with market fluctuations). In the current environment of high macro uncertainty, volatile gold prices, and turbulent financial markets, this tool timely meets investors' needs for prudent gold allocation.

Additionally, the Matrixport platform has developed a variety of wealth management products around XAUm. For example, to meet different risk preferences, the platform may combine XAUm with other assets to launch structured products, allowing gold to participate in these advanced strategies. Some innovative products even combine XAUm with volatile assets like bitcoin, designing automatic rebalancing or yield swap strategies, enabling users to invest in both gold and crypto assets. For instance, Matrixport once launched the "XAUm+BTC Dual Auto-Invest" function, allowing users to DCA into gold and bitcoin according to preset ratios, meeting the demand for long-term allocation with a "Long XAUm, Long BTC" approach. With these unique designs, the stability of gold and the aggressiveness of bitcoin complement each other, providing investors with new asset allocation options.

It is evident that both on-chain and off-chain, XAUm is rapidly expanding the application boundaries of gold. In the DeFi world, gold tokens can be combined like Lego blocks into various financial puzzles, generating yield and improving efficiency; on CeFi platforms, gold tokens are packaged into familiar wealth management services, lowering the usage threshold and releasing liquidity. This traditional asset, gold, is transforming into an active digital role through XAUm, playing a part in diverse financial scenarios.

Gold Bars Start Running, RWA Truly Begins

Recently, the World Gold Council (WGC) released the latest research and pilot plans on digital gold, proposing concepts such as "wholesale digital gold" and "Standard Gold Unit (SGU)," which are expected to be gradually promoted in 2026. This signal shows that as an important research institution in the global gold industry, the WGC has realized that gold must go digital to better integrate into future financial infrastructure.

XAUm's various explorations are at the forefront of the industry, demonstrating its foresight and pointing out a clear path for current RWA development for followers: Simply putting assets on-chain is not the end; incorporating quality assets into open digital financial systems, making them verifiable, usable, and highly liquid is the real demand for RWA in the on-chain world. Over the past year, XAUm has completed a series of milestone explorations, from issuance and multi-chain expansion to deep DeFi integration and attracting institutional allocation. These developments show that gold, once "asleep" in vaults, can be endowed with the momentum of the digital age, unleashing value far beyond traditional boundaries.

When gold bars "learn to run," it means traditional finance and the crypto world are further integrating. XAUm's exploration shows that the future of Real World Assets lies not in simply issuing a token for an asset, but in how to endow it with active energy after tokenization, making it an "active asset": able to circulate credibly on-chain and participate in various financial collaborations, thereby unlocking higher capital efficiency and innovation space.