PAX Gold (PAXG): What It Is, Uses and Risks

PAX Gold (PAXG) is a token issued by Paxos Trust Company that is meant to represent one fine troy ounce of gold. The gold is a London Good Delivery bar held in professional vault facilities. Whoever holds the token has ownership rights to that metal under Paxos custody, so the token's value follows the market price of physical gold rather than any crypto-native demand.

The design differs from a gold fund or a paper claim in one respect: the gold is tied to specific bars. Holders can look up the serial number, value and physical details of their vaulted gold by entering their Ethereum wallet address in a lookup tool on the Paxos site. Tokens can be split into small fractions, so a holder does not need to buy a whole ounce.

PAXG sits in the real-world asset (RWA) category, specifically tokenized gold. It is a claim on an off-chain asset, which means its reliability depends on the issuer, the vault operators and the legal structure behind the token, not just on the blockchain it runs on.

The main use is to get exposure to the gold price in a form that moves on-chain. Public descriptions mention several common uses: a store of value, a hedge, and a gold proxy for people who prefer holding a token with round-the-clock market access over dealing with bullion storage and shipping.

On the Paxos platform, customers can convert between PAXG, allocated gold, unallocated gold and fiat currency. Paxos says this reduces settlement risk. PAXG has also been offered on Paxos's own itBit exchange and on other exchanges, wallets and lending platforms.

Redemption for physical bars is possible but has practical limits. One exchange help page says holders need more than 430 PAXG to redeem for gold bars, which is a very large amount at current prices. Most holders therefore exit by selling the token or converting it through a platform instead of taking delivery. Check the current terms with Paxos or your platform before relying on redemption.

PAXG does not have a fixed maximum supply, because new tokens are created when gold is deposited and removed when gold is redeemed. Supply follows demand for the product, not a preset schedule. As of 2026-11-05, circulating supply was about 447,715 tokens, with total supply only slightly higher.

There is no inflation schedule, staking reward or governance function. The token is a receipt for metal, not a project with a treasury or emissions plan.

At the time of writing, the price was about $4,109 per token, with a market cap near $1.84 billion and a market cap rank around 52. Daily trading volume was roughly $121.5 million. The price was up about 2.3% over seven days and about 4.2% over one year. The all-time high was about $5,619 on 2026-01-28, and the all-time low was about $1,400 in November 2019. These figures change constantly and are not a forecast.

PAXG is issued on Ethereum as a standard token, so it works with Ethereum wallets and with services that support Ethereum-based tokens. It is not the native token of any chain. Ethereum network fees apply when you move it on-chain.

Most people get PAXG in one of a few ways: through the Paxos platform, through exchanges that list it, or by swapping into it from another token. Some platforms, including Luno and Binance.US, have published help pages describing it, though availability depends on your country and the platform's rules. Gold-backed tokens can also be used on lending platforms and in other parts of the crypto ecosystem where they are supported.

Because the token tracks a physical commodity, its price on an exchange can drift slightly from the spot gold price, especially in thin markets or during volatile periods. Fees, spreads and any identity checks vary by venue.

public data does not give a launch date for PAXG. Public sources describe it as created by Paxos, the company that also issued the earlier Paxos Standard (PAX) token. A June 2020 article already describes it as a gold-backed digital asset redeemable for physical gold, so it has been around for several years.

Paxos Trust Company is the custodian. Marketing and help pages describe the product as an allocated gold ownership arrangement, and one source says it is exempt from securities laws. Treat that last claim as the issuer-side framing, not legal advice, and note that rules differ between countries.

The price record gives some context. The all-time low in late 2019 and the all-time high in January 2026 show how far the gold price, and therefore PAXG, has moved over the token's life. Beyond that, public sources supplied do not include audits, incidents or partnerships, so none are listed here.

Issuer and custody risk is the central one. You rely on Paxos and its vault partners to hold the gold and honor redemptions. If the company failed, faced regulatory action or had a custody problem, the token's backing could be affected. Regulatory and tax treatment of tokenized gold also differs by country.

Price risk is straightforward: PAXG follows gold, and gold can fall as well as rise. The move from the January 2026 high to the current level shows that swings can be large.

Other risks are practical. Redemption thresholds can be high, fees may apply, and an exchange price can differ from spot gold. Smart contract and Ethereum network risk exist as with any token. Liquidity may also be thinner on some venues than on a traditional gold market.

This page is information only and is not advice to buy or sell.

If you hold PAXG yourself, use a wallet that supports Ethereum tokens. A hardware wallet is a common choice for larger amounts, since it keeps the private keys offline. Write down the recovery phrase on paper, store it somewhere safe and never type it into a website or share it with anyone.

Send a small test transaction first when moving to a new address, and double-check that you are using the Ethereum network. Beware of fake token contracts and phishing sites that imitate Paxos or wallet providers. Use the official contract address from a source you trust.

If you leave tokens on an exchange, you rely on that company's security and solvency, and withdrawals depend on its rules. Holding in your own wallet shifts responsibility to you: lose the keys and no one can recover the tokens. Some people split holdings between the two approaches depending on how often they plan to trade.