Bybit launched choices buying and selling for Tether Gold (XAUT) on its platform on June 12, changing into the primary crypto trade to supply choices on a tokenized real-world asset, in keeping with the trade’s announcement. The brand new product permits merchants to hedge or guess on gold worth volatility via XAUT, amid the continual enlargement of tokenized gold and real-world property on the blockchain.
Bybit Turns Tokenized Gold Into an Choices Market
With XAUT choices, Bybit is bringing tokenized gold past spot buying and selling and into the crypto derivatives market. XAUT is often used as a token representing bodily gold, however choices supply a extra versatile method to commerce, from danger hedging to betting on gold worth volatility inside a crypto-native atmosphere.
Based on Bybit’s June 12 announcement, that is the primary time a crypto trade has provided choices on a tokenized real-world asset. The trade additionally partnered with Orbit Markets to help liquidity in XAUT choices and deployed a Request for Quote (RFQ) mechanism focusing on skilled shoppers.
This transfer comes as tokenized gold is gaining traction from either side: the demand for gold as a hedging asset and the development of bringing real-world property onto the blockchain. For Bybit, the brand new product helps remodel XAUT from a token monitoring gold costs right into a software that can be utilized in broader by-product methods.
How the XAUT Choices Work
With XAUT choices, the underlying asset is Tether Gold, whereas the contracts are settled in USDT, in keeping with CoinDesk. Every XAUT represents one effective troy ounce of bodily gold, so this product brings gold worth volatility into the crypto market’s by-product construction.
For merchants, XAUT choices can be utilized to hedge or commerce based mostly on the route of gold costs with out dealing with bodily gold supply or opening a conventional commodities account. XAUT holders can use put choices to restrict danger when costs drop, whereas merchants anticipating costs to rise can use name choices as a substitute of shopping for the token instantly.
Bybit additionally deployed a Request for Quote (RFQ) for XAUT choices, focusing on institutional {and professional} shoppers. Based on the trade, RFQ will help OTC buying and selling with non-standard strikes, personalized maturities, and multi-leg methods, as a substitute of relying solely on obtainable contracts on the order ebook. This mechanism helps Bybit serve giant orders or extra complicated by-product buildings exterior the common listed market.
Why Tokenized Gold Is Getting Extra Consideration
Tether Gold is at the moment the biggest gold token by market capitalization. Based on CoinGecko knowledge, XAUT is buying and selling round $4,319, with a market cap of roughly $2.65 billion, a 24-hour buying and selling quantity of about $490 million, and a circulating provide of round 612,823 XAUT.
XAUT market cap chart (W). Supply: TradingView
PAX Gold (PAXG), XAUT’s fundamental competitor within the gold token class, has a market cap of round $1.98 billion and a 24-hour buying and selling quantity of about $88 million on the identical time. These figures are considerably decrease than XAUT’s market cap of $2.65 billion and quantity of round $490 million.
The eye towards XAUT additionally displays broader developments within the gold market. International central banks purchased greater than 1,000 tons of gold yearly throughout the 2022-2024 interval, earlier than dropping to 863.3 tons in 2025, however nonetheless remaining larger than the typical of 400-500 tons within the 2012-2021 interval.
The closest-month gold futures worth on COMEX settled at $4,330.90 per ounce on June 16, which is eighteen.57% decrease than the height of $5,318.40 on January 29, however nonetheless 27.88% larger than the identical interval final 12 months. This exhibits why tokenized gold has gained extra traction amongst crypto merchants who need publicity to gold whereas remaining throughout the blockchain infrastructure.
The Institutional Angle
Bybit isn’t just focusing on retail merchants with XAUT choices. The trade’s partnership with Orbit Markets and the deployment of RFQ present that this product is designed to serve each institutional {and professional} shoppers, a bunch that usually requires bigger commerce sizes and extra versatile buildings.
Orbit Markets performs the function of offering liquidity for XAUT choices, whereas RFQ helps OTC transactions or personalized buildings as a substitute of relying solely on the order ebook. These are acquainted components within the institutional derivatives market, the place desks typically require tailor-made quotes for large-volume trades or multi-step methods.
For Bybit, this implementation brings XAUT nearer to the logic of the standard by-product commodities market, however on crypto infrastructure. The underlying asset is tokenized gold, settlement happens in stablecoins, and the demand to be used can come from each short-term buying and selling {and professional} danger administration.
Dangers and What Comes Subsequent
XAUT choices open up further buying and selling instruments for tokenized gold but in addition complicate dangers. Along with gold worth volatility, customers additionally face dangers of the choices market, from dropping premium for choice consumers to skinny liquidity at sure maturities or strikes.
Based on Tether Gold’s documentation, every XAUT represents one effective troy ounce of London Good Supply bodily gold, held in a vault in Switzerland. Nonetheless, redemption and direct transactions with the issuer are nonetheless tied to KYC circumstances, main market processes, and phrases of service, whereas the vast majority of customers on the trade will commerce XAUT on the secondary market.
Following the preliminary launch section, the query is whether or not XAUT choices can preserve deep sufficient liquidity. If quantity, spreads, and help from market makers stabilize, this product will probably be an early check for by-product demand round tokenized gold.
