Gold, Copper, Uranium: The Tokenization of Commodities Takes on New Dimensions

Blockchain has given gold a utility it had not anticipated: that of collateral (a mobilizable guarantee for borrowing or covering a position), mobile and available 24/7. Tokenized gold is leading the way, but copper, and even uranium, are starting to follow the same path.

Indeed, what was merely a niche curiosity two years ago is now establishing itself as a full-fledged asset class, driven by a specific institutional demand: that for liquid collateral, available on Sunday evening just like on Tuesday at noon.
Key points of this article:

• Blockchain has transformed gold into liquid collateral, available 24/7, with the market for tokenized assets tripling to reach $7.5 billion by July 2026.
• Industrial metals like copper and uranium are following this trend, despite still modest capitalizations, revealing a profound transformation of traditional markets.

Tokenized gold, the engine of a market that has tripled in a year

The figure is surprising for skeptics in the sector. Indeed, the market for tokenized assets outside of stablecoins has grown from about $2 billion to $2.7 billion in mid-2025 to $7.5 billion in July 2026, according to CryptoRank data relayed by Crypto Briefing.

A near-complete tripling in twelve months. Gold does most of the heavy lifting: its tokenized capitalization surpassed $6 billion as early as February 2026, pulling the entire sector along in its wake.

Two tokens, Tether Gold (XAUT) and Pax Gold (PAXG), dominate the market, each backed by audited physical reserves, one in Switzerland and the other under New York supervision. The argument that convinces institutional investors can be summed up in a few words: no minimum purchase, no monthly vault fees. The token can be traded in minutes, on a Sunday evening just like on a Tuesday at noon.

Copper, Lithium, Nickel, and Aluminum: Industrial Commodities Seek Their XAUT

Gold alone does not make a commodities market. The broader category of tokenized commodities, including silver and industrial metals, now exceeds $4.4 billion in total value locked (TVL, the sum of assets actually deposited on-chain), according to DefiPrime's count published in January 2026. Silver accounts for about $420 million, buoyed by a more than 140% increase in its price in 2025.

The real test lies with the rest: copper, lithium, nickel, aluminum. These industrial metals were worth only about $75 million in tokenized value in 2025, barely 1.5% of the total on-chain commodities. This is negligible compared to the physical copper markets, which are worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. But the infrastructure is advancing rapidly. Hyperliquid is already offering perpetual contracts on copper, and Ostium Labs is expanding its offerings to palladium and platinum. This could transform a metal that has only been traded on over-the-counter markets (between professionals, without going through an exchange) into an asset accessible from a simple digital wallet.

The most striking example comes from a sector we did not expect on the blockchain. The XU3O8 project, launched on the Tezos blockchain with the support of the regulated British broker Archax, is already tokenizing physical uranium intended for nuclear power plants. The capitalization remains anecdotal, barely a few million dollars. So modest that it almost becomes the best barometer of the trend. After gold and silver, even the fuel for power plants now has its on-chain ticker.

This logic far exceeds mere collector curiosity. Traditional markets close on Friday evenings and reopen on Monday mornings, and a margin call rarely comes at a convenient time.

With a token backed by gold or copper, an institution can move its collateral in seconds. Seven days a week, without waiting for the clearing house (the entity that validates and settles transactions between financial institutions) to open. XAUT is already serving as collateral on Aave, the decentralized lending protocol, allowing borrowing against tokenized gold without touching the rest of its portfolio.

Yield is not what attracts family offices and corporate treasuries to these products. Availability is.

The movement far exceeds the three metals mentioned here. The tokenization of real-world assets is already impacting government bonds and commercial real estate, and Citi anticipates a total market of $5 trillion by 2030. At this scale, copper and uranium are just the beginning. The regulatory stakes are now coming into play, and they do not concern just gold. Who certifies that the bar or ton of copper really exists behind the token, and who reimburses if the vault is empty? In this regard, tokenized metals are playing the role that stablecoins played before them; proving that the on-chain promise is worth what it claims off-chain.

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