Circle’s Arc Blockchain Launches First Tokenized Gold Asset

Matrixdock Issues XAUm on Arc

Circle’s Arc blockchain has launched its first tokenized gold asset. The digital token, named XAUm, is issued by Matrixdock and represents one ounce of physical gold. The asset marks a significant step for the Arc network, which Circle introduced on September 16 with support from Visa, BlackRock, and Standard Chartered.

Eva Meng, head of Matrixdock, noted the historical separation between ownership and utility in precious metals. “Gold has been an institutional reserve asset for centuries, but holding it and using it have always been two different things,” Meng said. The XAUm token is designed to bridge that gap by allowing digital transfers of the underlying asset.

Physical Backing and Storage

Each XAUm token is backed by one ounce of gold. The physical bars are stored in vaults located in Hong Kong and Singapore. Custody is handled by Brink’s or Malca-Amit, with the gold traceable to specific numbered bars. Matrixdock publishes reserve reports and pays the auditor responsible for verifying these reserves.

The asset is accessible across eight different networks, including Arc. This multi-chain availability contrasts with competitors like Tether Gold, which runs on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain, and PAX Gold, which recently added Solana support in June while remaining primarily on Ethereum.

Settlement Discrepancies

A notable aspect of the XAUm launch is the difference between marketing claims and operational documentation regarding cash redemption. Matrixdock claims that qualifying sellers can receive cash the same day. However, the company’s documentation states that sellers must wait three working days to receive funds.

In April 2025, a customer in Singapore redeemed tokens for one kilogram of physical gold. That transaction took three days to complete. The same-day cash offer applies only to eligible sales and requires proof of transaction. Furthermore, the cash-out window operates on New York hours, while the vaults in Asia are twelve hours ahead, creating a time-zone mismatch for users.

This stands in contrast to the traditional gold market in London, the world’s largest, where trades typically settle two days after the transaction. The discrepancy between the promised instant liquidity and the actual multi-day settlement process highlights the operational complexities of integrating physical commodities into digital asset protocols.

Market Position and Cost

XAUm is currently the smallest of the major gold tokens by market value. On May 1, XAUm had a market capitalization of $70 million, compared to $2.52 billion for Tether Gold and $2.32 billion for PAX Gold. The market price for XAUm sits near $4,318 per token, with a total valuation of approximately $71 million.

The cost of acquiring physical gold varies significantly depending on the token used. To collect a one-kilogram bar, a user would need 32.148 XAUm tokens, costing approximately $139,000, with collection in Singapore or Hong Kong. In comparison, acquiring a London Good Delivery bar via PAXG requires 430 tokens and costs roughly $1.8 million, with delivery arranged by the customer.

While the gold can currently be sold on Arc, it cannot be borrowed against. Matrixdock has stated that lending features against the gold collateral will be introduced in the future. The launch of XAUm follows a period of high speculation on the Arc network, where sites for minting joke tokens accounted for 82% of the $410.8 million traded on the network’s opening day.