Tokenized commodities expand beyond gold as lending and oil unlock new markets
— Gold and silver lending could broaden tokenization past mere price tracking.
— EnSub is creating natural gas and Brent tokens in addition to its physically backed oil offering.
— Executives anticipate significant growth, though custody, logistics, and borrower risk persist as challenges.
Tokenized commodities could evolve from a gold-dominated market into a wider system for financing metals, trading energy, and borrowing against physical assets, say executives at Paxos Labs, Theo, and Energy Substantiation.
Placing commodities on blockchain networks should do more than simplify purchases, executives say; it could link investors seeking exposure and income with firms needing inventory financing, unlocking markets once limited to large institutions.
The starting point remains modest. Tokenized commodities’ market cap hit $5.55 billion at end of March 2026, up from $1.43 billion at start of 2025, per CoinGecko. Gold-backed tokens from Paxos and Tether made up nearly 90% of that growth.
Tokenized commodities are blockchain-based tokens representing ownership of, or exposure to, physical assets like gold, silver, and oil.
Gold lending
Paxos Labs is betting that lending can unlock the next stage.
Its PAXGy token is backed by PAX Gold.
“The big proposition is access,” co-founder Bhau Kotecha told Decryptnews in an interview. Gold lending has historically demanded scale and relationships out of reach for many investors, he said.
Kotecha sees demand from individuals, family offices, and institutions, with borrowing against PAXGy a potential next step. Lending returns aren’t guaranteed, and borrower defaults could erode the token’s value.
Silver provides another path into that financing market. Theo’s thSLVR product passes income from institutional silver leases to holders while preserving exposure to the metal’s price.
Theo Chief Investment Officer Iggy Ioppe sees growth from existing commodity owners and users: institutions seeking productive collateral, refiners financing inventory, and corporate treasuries wanting assets that settle quickly.
Silver is “the natural second” after gold, he said, citing industrial demand and an established leasing market, though higher volatility and tighter metal supply complicate the opportunity.
Ioppe forecasts a tokenized commodities market worth tens of billions within five years and over $100 billion within a decade. Within 15 years, he expects tokenization to become part of standard commodity settlement and financing.
The oil test
Oil presents a larger logistical challenge and, in EnSub’s view, a substantial opportunity.
The company expanded its WTIC token from Ethereum to Solana on Oct. 2. Each token represents one barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude backed by verified physical inventory, per its announcement.
Co-founder and CEO JP Thieriot said natural gas and Brent tokens are in development. He expects demand from energy buyers hedging costs, investors seeking exposure, and suppliers needing working capital, predicting oil tokens could capture a quarter of the oil market within 10 years.
The executives differ on how quickly energy can follow metals. Ioppe argued that storage and transport make income-generating energy tokens harder to build. Thieriot said “verifiable inventory, workable custody, and settlement” are essential for commodities constantly in motion.
Expansion will thus depend on linking tokens to reliable physical markets and giving owners a compelling reason to use them.
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Why it matters:
Diversified RWA stablecoins keep yielding 5-7% from real credit as crypto funding shrinks to ~4%. GENIUS moves yield off-chain; TAM expands to $4B in three years.