Gold’s $2.5 trillion meltdown claims unexpected victim

Gold extended its price decline into the second day on Oct. 22, wiping off nearly $2.5 trillion worth of market capitalization. The bullion is poised for its largest two-day drop since 2013 and was trading at $4,058.19 per oz at the time of writing, down 0.97% today.

Tokenized gold also followed suit, with all the assets reflecting price decline without exception.

Related: What is tokenization? Explained

Gold tokens tumble

To put it simply, a tokenized gold token is a digital representation of physical gold that is issued on a blockchain. Each token typically represents ownership of a fixed amount of real gold (one ounce, for example). Each token is backed 1:1 by physical gold held in reserve.

The total market cap of tokenized gold fell around 7% in the past 24 hours and stood at $3.8 billion at the time of writing, as per CoinGecko.

Tether Gold's (XAUt) price dropped 4% in 24 hours and it was exchanging hands at $4,040.85 at press time.

PAX Gold (PAXG), issued by Paxos Trust Company, also fell 3.9% to trade at $4,090.41. Each PAXG token is backed by one troy ounce of gold that is stored in LBMA vaults in London.

Related: What are tokenized stocks? Explained

Kinesis Gold (KAU) slipped more than 4% and was trading at $131.19. Each KAU token is backed by 1 gram of gold and all precious metal is stored by Kinesis in fully insured, secure vaulting facilities across the world.

VeraOne (VRO) remained the worst-hit gold token as it dipped more than 7% in 24 hours and was trading at $129.83 at press time. Each VRO token is backed by 1 gram of LBMA gold which is stored in the Free Ports of Geneva.

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Crypto market struggles to recover

Though the crypto market is trying to recover from the shock of the crash following President Donald Trump's anti-China remark on Aug. 10, it leaves much to be desired.

Bitcoin was trading at $108,277, down 0.5% in a day. Ethereum was down 0.7% and was trading at $3,849.29. Solana was up by a modest 0.1% in 24 hours, exchanging hands at $185.54.People walk past an advertisement feature Donald Trump with Solana, XRP, USDC Bitcoin in Hong Kong.

However, it was a positive day for Solana as the Hong Kong regulator approved the first spot SOL ETF which is expected to go live on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Oct. 27. This is a crucial win for the Solana ecosystem as the network’s builders and investors are expected to gather at the Solana Breakpoint in Abu Dhabi in a few weeks. The annual developer and ecosystem conference will decide the near future of the token as key upgrade and growth plans will be discussed at length.

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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