Former Credit Suisse CIO: Tokenized Gold Accounts for "Almost 100% of Price Discovery" During Weekend CME Closure

Odaily News According to Iggy Ioppe, former Chief Investment Officer of Credit Suisse, during the period from the close of CME Group gold futures at 17:00 (Eastern Time) on Friday until their reopening at 18:00 on Sunday, almost all publicly visible gold price formation occurs in on-chain markets. He pointed out that during this window, regulated futures markets are suspended, and while over-the-counter (OTC) trading in Asia remains active, it lacks transparency. Therefore, tokenized gold assets such as PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUt) become the only continuously tradable public markets. "From the perspective of publicly visible price formation, on-chain markets account for almost 100% of weekend price discovery." When CME trading resumes, futures prices typically align with the volatility that has already occurred in on-chain markets.

Data shows that the market capitalization of tokenized gold has risen to $4.4 billion, with approximately $2.8 billion added in the past year, representing a growth of 177%, far exceeding the performance of most physical gold ETFs. The total trading volume for 2025 was about $178 billion, with a single-quarter peak in Q4 exceeding $126 billion. In terms of trading volume, it is second only to SPDR Gold Shares. Against the backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions following U.S. airstrikes on Iran on Saturday, tokenized gold prices rose, with XAUt briefly breaking above $5,450 and PAXG approaching $5,536, while Bitcoin and Ethereum simultaneously declined. Current major participants include market makers, cross-market liquidity providers, and crypto-native macro traders, who utilize tokenized gold for arbitrage, collateral, hedging, and yield strategies. Some institutions also monitor weekend on-chain gold trends to assess "gap risk" before the CME opens, but they largely view it as a reference signal rather than a direct basis for establishing positions. (Cointelegraph)