Bitazza, a Bangkok-based exchange licensed by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission, is recommending that global investors diversify into both Bitcoin and tokenised gold as long-term stores of value. The guidance, issued this week, follows a sharp run-up in gold prices and a rapid expansion of the on-chain commodity market, which grew from $4 billion to $6.1 billion in total value in under three months, a 53% increase since the start of 2026.

Tokenised gold refers to blockchain-based tokens that are backed one-to-one by physical gold held in secure vaults. The two leading products in this category are Tether Gold (XAUt), issued by Tether, and Pax Gold (PAXG), issued by Paxos. As of mid-March, XAUt carries a market capitalisation of approximately $2.89 billion, with around 140 metric tons of physical bullion held in reserve. PAXG trades at a market cap near $2.58 billion, and the token recorded an inflow of $248 million in January 2026 alone. Combined 24-hour trading volume for the two tokens reached roughly $529 million. Tokenised gold's cumulative trading volume for the full year of 2025 reached $178 billion, surpassing the combined turnover of the top five traditional gold ETFs in the fourth quarter of that year.

The practical advantage driving this growth is round-the-clock liquidity. Traditional gold markets operate on restricted exchange hours, but tokenised gold can be bought or sold at any time on blockchain platforms. Tanawat Sutuntivorakoon, CEO of Bitazza Thailand, pointed to this feature as increasingly consequential: "When traditional gold markets reopened after recent geopolitical tensions, prices moved in line with levels already established in blockchain trading, highlighting the growing link between conventional financial markets and digital asset platforms." Analysts interpret this convergence as evidence that on-chain pricing is acting as a leading indicator rather than a reflection of spot markets, a development with significant implications for how commodity prices are discovered across traditional and digital venues.

Spot gold itself has had an extraordinary run. Prices surged 55% through 2025, crossing $4,000 per ounce for the first time in October of that year. The metal hit an all-time high of $5,595.42 per ounce on January 29, 2026, driven by U.S. dollar weakness, trade tensions, and sustained central bank buying. A second spike brought the price to $5,417 on March 3, coinciding with Middle East conflict. Prices have since eased to around $5,195 as of March 10. J.P. Morgan had projected gold would approach $5,000 per ounce by the end of 2026, a forecast the market exceeded months ahead of schedule.

Bitwise Asset Management, a U.S.-based crypto asset manager, has put forward a concrete allocation framework to accompany the macro case. The firm recommends holding roughly 15% of a portfolio across a combined Bitcoin and gold position, citing the two assets' complementary performance across different phases of the market cycle. Holding both, the argument goes, provides more consistent coverage than either asset alone.

For investors across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa, these dynamics carry particular weight. Thailand's crypto adoption rate stands at approximately 18% of the population, nearly three times the global average of 6.8%, and the country has added regulatory incentives to its existing infrastructure. Thailand currently operates 12 SEC-licensed digital asset exchanges under its 2018 Digital Asset Business Decree, and offshore platforms were brought under domestic licensing requirements in April 2025, reflecting the relative maturity of the country's regulatory environment. A five-year capital gains tax exemption on crypto trading through licensed exchanges, effective from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2029, gives Thai-based investors a structural cost advantage over counterparts in most neighbouring markets. Vietnam (21%) leads the region in crypto adoption, while the Philippines (13%) trails Thailand but remains well above the global average. Vietnam's newly enacted Digital Technology Industry Law, in force since January 2026, now provides a formal licensing framework for crypto assets that mirrors Thailand's approach. Across Southeast Asia, institutional investors account for close to 69% of total crypto trading volume, a figure that suggests the portfolio diversification narrative is already taking hold at the professional level.

The tokenised gold model also speaks directly to investors in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where gold holds deep cultural significance as a store of wealth but physical ownership involves friction: storage costs, authentication requirements, and limited liquidity outside business hours. Tokenised gold on the Ethereum blockchain and compatible networks removes most of those barriers. In Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, where local currency depreciation has been severe and stablecoin adoption has grown as a substitute for dollar access, tokenised gold offers a similar function for wealth preservation tied to a globally recognised hard asset.

Looking ahead, Wintermute's CEO has projected the tokenised gold market cap could reach $15 billion by the end of 2026. For developers building financial products on public blockchains, the on-chain price discovery signal identified by Bitazza points to what analysts describe as a structural shift: real-world asset tokenisation is moving from a niche infrastructure experiment to an active price-setting mechanism in global commodity markets.