{"slug":"paxg-vs-gold","question":"PAXG or XAUT instead of physical gold or a gold ETF — what is the difference?","answer":"KAU (Kinesis Money) pays no yield (price only), minimum from ~$1 (0.01 g).","shortAnswer":"KAU (Kinesis Money) pays no yield (price only), minimum from ~$1 (0.01 g). PAXG (Paxos) pays no yield (price only), minimum fractional. GLDx (Backed / Kraken (xStocks)) pays no yield (price only), minimum ~$1. XAUM (Matrixdock) pays no yield (price only), minimum fractional. XAUT (Tether (TG Commodities)) pays no yield (price only), minimum fractional. VNXAU (VNX (Liechtenstein)) pays no yield (price only), minimum fractional (~1g equivalent), can be bought on a DEX without KYC.","asOf":"2026-10-19","faq":[{"q":"Is PAXG the same as owning gold?","a":"Close, but not the same. Each PAXG is backed by a fine troy ounce of allocated London Good Delivery gold that Paxos holds in vaults; you own a claim on that metal through Paxos, not a bar in your own hands. You can redeem for dollars, or for physical bars in larger amounts."},{"q":"PAXG or a gold ETF like GLD?","a":"A gold ETF such as GLD is a fund share you hold through a broker and trade during stock-market hours; it charges an annual fee (about 0.4% for GLD). PAXG and XAUT trade around the clock on crypto exchanges and sit in a wallet, with no broker. The ETF fits a brokerage portfolio; the token fits someone who already holds crypto or wants to move gold on a blockchain."},{"q":"Which is cheaper to hold?","a":"Physical gold costs storage and insurance, plus a dealer spread on buying and selling. A gold ETF charges its annual fee. Gold tokens charge no storage fee to holders, but you pay exchange spreads and network fees when you trade or move them."},{"q":"Which one has the lowest minimum?","a":"PAXG (Paxos), with minimum fractional. The highest stated minimum here is VNXAU, with minimum fractional (~1g equivalent)."},{"q":"Which of them can I buy without KYC?","a":"1 of 6 can be bought on a DEX without identity verification: VNXAU. For the rest, the source does not state the secondary-market gate."},{"q":"Which is the largest?","a":"By size, XAUT at $2.6B, followed by PAXG at $2.0B and KAU at $330M. Size is not safety, but a larger product usually means a deeper market to sell into."},{"q":"How risky are they?","a":"KAU: Low-Medium. PAXG: Low-Medium. GLDx: Medium (commodity market). XAUM: Low-Medium. XAUT: Low-Medium. VNXAU: Low-Medium. The risk label is ours, in plain language, and is explained on each token page."}],"count":6,"rows":[{"ticker":"KAU","name":"Kinesis Gold","issuer":"Kinesis Money","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"Holders’ yield paid in metal; rate not published publicly","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"variable","minimumUsd":1,"size":"$330M","chains":"Ethereum / Kinesis","country":"Isle of Man (vaulted)","kycSecondary":"unknown","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":null,"contract":null,"source":"https://kinesis.money/holders-yield/","lastVerified":"2026-10-19","tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/KAU","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/KAU"},{"ticker":"PAXG","name":"Pax Gold","issuer":"Paxos","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"0% (store of value)","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"none","minimumUsd":0,"size":"$1.99B","chains":"Ethereum","country":"USA (gold vaulted in London)","kycSecondary":"unknown","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":null,"contract":null,"source":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/pax-gold","lastVerified":null,"tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/PAXG","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/PAXG"},{"ticker":"GLDx","name":"Gold ETF (xStocks GLDx)","issuer":"Backed / Kraken (xStocks)","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"Price return (gold)","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"price-return","minimumUsd":1,"size":"—","chains":"Solana (+Ethereum, BNB, Arbitrum, Mantle)","country":"Jersey / EU service (CySEC)","kycSecondary":"unknown","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":"CH1436219740","contract":null,"source":"https://app.rwa.xyz/stocks","lastVerified":null,"tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/GLDx","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/GLDx"},{"ticker":"XAUM","name":"Matrixdock Gold","issuer":"Matrixdock","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"0% (store of value)","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"none","minimumUsd":0,"size":"~$73M","chains":"Ethereum / BNB Chain / Sui","country":"Singapore","kycSecondary":"unknown","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":null,"contract":null,"source":"https://www.matrixdock.com/xaum","lastVerified":null,"tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/XAUM","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/XAUM"},{"ticker":"XAUT","name":"Tether Gold","issuer":"Tether (TG Commodities)","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"0% (store of value)","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"none","minimumUsd":0,"size":"$2.63B","chains":"Ethereum","country":"Switzerland (vault) / El Salvador","kycSecondary":"unknown","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":null,"contract":null,"source":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/tether-gold","lastVerified":null,"tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/XAUT","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/XAUT"},{"ticker":"VNXAU","name":"VNX Gold","issuer":"VNX (Liechtenstein)","category":"Tokenized Commodities","yield":"0% (store of value)","yieldPct":null,"yieldKind":"none","minimumUsd":1,"size":"Smaller (EU niche)","chains":"Ethereum / Polygon / Solana (+)","country":"Liechtenstein","kycSecondary":"none","maturity":null,"lifecycle":"live","isin":null,"contract":null,"source":"https://vnx.li/vnx-gold/","lastVerified":null,"tier":"curated","page":"https://tokenbank.world/token/VNXAU","json":"https://tokenbank.world/api/tokens/VNXAU"}],"programs":[],"underlyings":[],"sources":[],"_links":{"page":"https://tokenbank.world/answers/paxg-vs-gold","index":"https://tokenbank.world/api/v1/answers"},"_citation":"TokenBank, “PAXG or XAUT instead of physical gold or a gold ETF — what is the difference?”, https://tokenbank.world/answers/paxg-vs-gold (data as of 2026-10-19), CC BY 4.0.","_license":"CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","_disclaimer":"Computed from sourced data; yields are variable and not guaranteed. Not investment advice. Verify each row’s source before relying on it."}