Bitcoin

Ethereum

PAX Gold

Tether Gold

Kinesis Gold

Kinesis Silver

Hyperliquid

Matrixdock Gold

<p>Gold and silver dominated markets in early 2026 in a way few assets did. Both metals surged to new all-time highs in late January, with gold trading above $5,600 per ounce and silver briefly pushing past $120 per ounce, driven by inflation concerns, supply constraints, and geopolitical risk.</p><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/967092682acf4c5a85d075bf6ab114c5.png"><p><em>Spot silver price in 2026. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/real-world-assets/silver/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a></em></p><p>The rally, however, ended abruptly. Silver suffered one of the largest single-day declines in its trading history, falling more than 25% in a single session, while gold experienced its sharpest daily drop in years before stabilizing below prior highs.</p><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/badde7c70ff84b6696420e06da7864fc.png"><p><em>Gold spot price in 2026. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/real-world-assets/gold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a></em></p><p>Despite the sharp drops, both metals remain among the strongest performers of the year. Gold and silver continue to outperform Bitcoin (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) on a year-to-date basis, despite extreme volatility and rapid position unwinds. While crypto’s largest assets stalled after late-2025 highs, capital kept rotating into precious metals.</p><p>That gap created an unusual situation for crypto investors. The most active and volatile markets in 2026 were no longer native crypto assets — they were gold and silver.</p><p>What followed was a shift in behavior. With gold and silver moving in ways Bitcoin is not, many traders are looking for ways to engage with that volatility without leaving crypto markets, making gold and silver two of the most important on-chain assets to follow in early 2026.</p><h2 id="why-have-gold-and-silver-outperformed-bitcoin">Why Have Gold And Silver Outperformed Bitcoin?</h2><p>Silver’s move has been driven more by supply constraints and industrial demand than speculative positioning.</p><p>Global silver demand <a href="https://partners.wsj.com/cme-group/beyond-the-market/silver-is-rising-the-key-factors-fueling-demand/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reached</a> 1.2 billion ounces in 2024 and has remained elevated, with a supply deficit that has persisted for several years.</p><p>The demand side is structural: Solar panel installations alone could <a href="https://carboncredits.com/silvers-new-role-in-the-clean-energy-era-and-what-it-means-for-sierra-madre-investors/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">consume</a> up to 250 million ounces of silver annually by 2030, while electric vehicles use roughly twice as much silver as internal combustion vehicles. Data centers, 5G infrastructure, and advanced electronics also add steady demand that does not depend on retail sentiment.</p><p>Gold has followed a different path. It has outperformed most equities and bonds over the last 12 months and reasserted its role as crisis collateral. Institutional flows returned to gold-backed ETFs and allocated bullion, while silver-backed ETFs rebuilt their <a href="https://www.home.saxo/content/articles/commodities/gold-silver-and-platinum-regain-momentum-as-2026-opens-with-familiar-risks-and-new-tensions-06012026" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">holdings</a> to roughly 860 million ounces, near multi-year highs.</p><p>Soon, crypto traders also took notice, with these fast-moving assets now tradable on-chain with leverage around the clock.</p><p><strong><em>Related Article: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/tether-buying-dollar1b-gold-monthly-for-reserve-vault" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Tether Buying $1B Gold Monthly for Reserve Vault</a></em></strong></p><h2 id="silver-hype-moves-on-chain">Silver Hype Moves On-Chain</h2><p>Silver broke out globally first in 2026, then crypto added leverage and continuous access to the precious metal.</p><p>Traditional silver markets concentrate activity during limited trading hours and through regulated futures venues. Participation requires brokerage access, margin approvals, and regional availability. These constraints did not stop the rally, but they shaped who could trade it — and how aggressively.</p><p>On-chain markets, however, remove those constraints.</p><p>Once silver entered price discovery, crypto traders treated it as a high-volatility macro asset and deployed capital through perpetual futures and tokenized exposure. Trading ran 24/7, settlement was instant, and leverage was available without the operational friction of traditional futures accounts.</p><p>This is why silver volume surged on crypto venues after the breakout was already visible. Crypto amplified participation once momentum and volatility were established.</p><p>Hyperliquid became the focal point for on-chain commodity trading. In late January 2026, silver futures on Hyperliquid were trading around <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/hyperliquid-jumps-24percent-as-hyperliquid-commodities-explode" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$1 billion in daily volume</a>, with silver ranking just behind Bitcoin and Ethereum (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) on the platform.</p><p>HYPE (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hyperliquid/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">HYPE</a>) also moved with that activity, rallying more than 20% in a short window.</p><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/3efd0ade4ad646ca910c5e18aa91978b.png"><p><em>HYPE price growth in January. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hyperliquid/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a></em></p><h2 id="how-to-trade-tokenized-gold-and-silver-on-chain">How to Trade Tokenized Gold and Silver On-Chain</h2><p>The easiest way for investors to get exposure to gold and silver on-chain is through tokenized spot metals.</p><p>Tokenized gold and silver represent direct claims on physical metal held in off-chain vaults that are, in most cases, audited periodically. Tokenized precious metals trade around the clock and can be transferred or used as collateral.</p><p>Some common tokenized gold examples include Tether Gold (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether-gold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">XAUt</a>), PAX Gold (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/pax-gold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PAXG</a>), Matrixdock Gold (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/matrixdock-gold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">XAUM</a>), and Kinesis Gold (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gold-kau/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">KAU</a>).</p><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/e78f538b9d4c4272a02986f9df76e5ac.png"><p><em>The top tokenized gold assets by market cap. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/view/tokenized-gold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a></em></p><p>For silver, Kinesis Silver (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/silver/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">KAG</a>), fSLVR, and gram-based fractional tokens (where one token equals one gram of vaulted silver) are among the most traded assets.</p><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/2c875ec8029b44b88cb03183c2b6246d.png"><p><em>Top tokenized silver assets by market cap. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/view/tokenized-silver/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a></em></p><p>For investors, the advantage is operational. Small denominations, instant settlement, and DeFi compatibility remove the friction associated with physical bars or <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/exchange-traded-fund-etf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">exchange-traded funds (ETFs)</a>.</p><h2 id="tokenized-gold-and-silver-products-available-today">Tokenized Gold and Silver Products Available Today</h2><p>The tokenized metals market now includes a mix of spot exposure tokens, yield-bearing variants, and derivatives instruments that function on blockchain rails.</p><h3 id="tokenized-gold">Tokenized Gold</h3><p>On the gold side, XAUT and PAXG are the largest spot tokens by market cap, each backed 1:1 by physical gold stored in vaults with periodic attestations.</p><h3 id="yield-bearing-assets">Yield-Bearing Assets</h3><p>A recent development is thGOLD, a yield-bearing tokenized gold product launched by Theo in partnership with Libeara.</p><p>ThGOLD combines physical gold collateral with an institutional lending fund structure, FundBridge Capital’s MG999 On-Chain Gold Fund, where interest income from secured loans to established gold retailers is distributed to token holders. This product is <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/385152/theo-launches-yield-bearing-tokenized-gold-built-work-defi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">expected</a> to trade and be usable as collateral on platforms such as Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Morpho, and Pendle.</p><h3 id="tokenized-silver">Tokenized Silver</h3><p>Silver remains less mature, but it is still available in fully backed token form. Examples include tokens like KAG and fSLVR, as well as fractional tokens such as GRAMS that represent small units of vaulted silver.</p><h3 id="derivatives">Derivatives</h3><p>Derivatives products on exchanges include <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/binance-launches-gold-and-silver-futures-settled-in-usdt" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Binance’s XAUUSDT and XAGUSDT</a> perpetual contracts and Hyperliquid’s metals perp markets, which offer leveraged exposure to tokenized gold and silver prices. These derivatives markets contribute to liquidity and allow traders to take directional and basis positions beyond simple spot ownership.</p><h2 id="why-silver-and-gold-perps-attract-so-much-leverage">Why Silver and Gold Perps Attract So Much Leverage</h2><p>Silver and gold perps behave like high-volatility crypto majors with real demand behind them, which is why they are attracting so much leverage.</p><p>On-chain silver and gold perpetuals now support directional trades, hedging, and carry strategies. Funding rates often diverge from spot prices, opening basis trades familiar to crypto funds.</p><p>A common structure pairs long tokenized spot exposure with short perpetual positions to capture funding. Silver’s volatility supports premium-selling strategies as options liquidity expands.</p><p>Traders treat silver like a macro-driven altcoin with deeper liquidity and fewer narrative resets.</p><h2 id="can-gold-and-silver-be-used-as-defi-collateral">Can Gold and Silver Be Used as DeFi Collateral?</h2><p>Gold and silver can be used as DeFi collateral, and that is part of the shift.</p><p>Tokenized metals are increasingly used as collateral in lending protocols. Borrowers include miners, trading desks, and high-net-worth holders who want liquidity without selling exposure. Lenders gain collateral that historically strengthens during inflationary or geopolitical stress.</p><h2 id="what-trades-are-investors-actually-making">What Trades Are Investors Actually Making?</h2><p>Investors are positioning for sustained commodity volatility on crypto rails.</p><p>Crypto markets entered 2026 without broad directional momentum, and gold and silver supplied it. On-chain platforms removed access barriers and extended leverage to a global audience.</p><p>Hyperliquid surfaced the first concentration of volume, and spot tokens, yield products, and collateral use followed.</p><p>Silver provided the signal, and gold added stability. Together, they turned commodities into one of the most active segments on-chain while the rest of crypto consolidated.</p><p><strong><em>Further Reading: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/what-is-openclaw-moltbot-clawdbot-ai-agent-crypto-twitter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">What is OpenClaw? The AI Agent Assistant Lighting Up Crypto Twitter</a></em></strong></p>

How Crypto Investors Are Trading Gold and Silver On-Chain in 2026

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