DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — ⬆️ Tokenised gold market value exceeded $4.3B; Tether launched USAT stablecoin in the US
DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — ⬆️ Tokenised gold market value exceeded $4.3B; Tether launched USAT stablecoin in the US
Key Takeaways
- The tokenized gold market is surging past $4.3 billion. XAUT and PAXG dominate, holding ~84% of the total tokenised commodities market share.
- Tether launched USAT, an onshore, US-regulated stablecoin issued under a federal regulatory framework.
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin declared decentralised social networks a top priority for 2026. He also proposed a ‘simpler’ distributed validator staking system to reduce technical complexity and improve network decentralisation.
- Ethereum Foundation formally elevated post-quantum (PQ) security to a top strategic priority, forming a dedicated team to develop defences against potential threats from quantum computing.
- Solana Mobile officially launched its native governance and utility token, SKR.
- Ondo Finance expanded on-chain access to tokenised US stocks and ETFs to the Solana blockchain.
Weekly DeFi Index
This week, the price, volume, and volatility indices decreased by -2.92%, -14.00%, and -73.14%, respectively.
Chart of the Week
The tokenised commodities market reached US$5.15 billion, up around 25% from the end of 2025. Tokenised gold now exceeds $4.3 billion in market capitalisation as spot gold price exceeds $5,200 per ounce, driven by investor demand for safe-haven assets amid global market uncertainty. Tether Gold (XAUT) holds approximately $2.3 billion in assets, while Paxos Gold (PAXG) has nearly $2.0 billion. Combined, XAUT and PAXG control roughly 84% of the total tokenised commodities market share.
News Highlights
- Tether partnered with Anchorage Digital Bank to launch USAT, an onshore, US-regulated stablecoin designed to provide institutions access to a dollar-backed asset issued under a federal regulatory framework.
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin declared decentralised social networks a top priority for 2026, announcing that he will primarily use protocols like Farcaster, Lens, and Bluesky via the Firefly aggregator.
- Vitalik Buterin proposed a ‘simpler’ distributed validator staking system that would allow users to register up to 16 keys per validator, reducing technical complexity and improving network decentralisation.
- Ethereum Foundation formally elevated post-quantum (PQ) security to a top strategic priority, forming a dedicated team to develop defences against potential threats from quantum computing.
- Solana Mobile officially launched its native governance and utility token, SKR, airdropping roughly 2 billion tokens (20% of the total supply) to over 100,000 Seeker smartphone users and early developers.
- Ondo Finance expanded its Ondo Global Markets platform to Solana, giving users on-chain access to tokenised US stocks and ETFs.
Recent Research Reports
This report dynamically updated the parameters in our methodology to estimate the global cryptocurrency owners and the adoption trend in 2025. | This report provides an overview of market updates in December, new developments, and our latest market outlook. | Crypto and Fixed Income decreased in December, while Equities and Real Assets were mixed. BTC’s 1-month performance correlation was negative with Fixed Income, but mixed across Equities and Real Assets. |
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