Gold prices plummeted by 20%, yet did giant whales seize the opportunity to buy? Significant accumulation of XAUT and the expansion of BNB Chain release key signals.

Gate News reports that despite international gold prices falling over 20% from their peak in January 2026, on-chain funds are showing the opposite trend. Several whale addresses have recently made large purchases and transfers of Tether Gold, indicating that capital is accelerating into the tokenized gold sector. Data shows that two major wallets have withdrawn over $12.3 million in XAUT from the platform and transferred it to self-custody addresses, which is typically seen as a signal for medium to long-term holding.

This sell-off is driven by multiple overlapping macro factors, including a strengthening dollar, U.S. Treasury yields rising to 4.4%, and deleveraging in the futures market. At the same time, gold’s cumulative increase of 64% in 2025 has prompted some institutions to take profits, further amplifying price volatility. However, unlike the adjustments in the spot market, on-chain data reflects that funds are positioning against the trend.

On the fundamental side, Tether’s push to extend XAUT to the BNB Chain has become one of the key catalysts. This token achieves a 1:1 peg to physical gold, stored in Swiss vaults and audited by independent institutions. CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that this move aims to provide blockchain-level liquidity and programmability for gold, enabling quick settlements worldwide.

Currently, XAUT supports multiple networks through cross-chain infrastructure, becoming an important component in the RWA (Real World Asset tokenization) space. The market size is also rapidly expanding, with the total market capitalization of gold-backed stablecoins growing from about $1.3 billion in 2025 to over $4 billion, with XAUT holding a dominant position at a market cap of approximately $2.5 billion.

Institutional views are similarly optimistic. Analysts expect that if the macro environment turns to easing, gold prices still have room to rise in the medium term, with some forecasts pointing to levels above $6,000. In this context, the current price pullback may be viewed by large funds as an opportunity to reposition.

In the short term, gold price volatility will still be influenced by interest rates and the dollar’s movements, but on-chain capital trends indicate that tokenized gold is gradually becoming one of the important safe-haven assets in the crypto market.