Altcoins have fallen to their weakest valuation against gold on record. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe said the weekly RSI has dropped to 25 for altcoins versus gold, a reading he described as unprecedented outside conditions comparable to the COVID crash. With spot gold hovering near $5,000 per ounce, the ratio has become a stark measure of how badly non-major crypto assets have trailed the metal.
Gold-backed tokens stay close to bullion prices
That stress is showing up most clearly in real-world asset tokens backed by gold. PAX Gold (PAXG), which represents allocated London Good Delivery bars, was trading around $5,035.43, down 0.09% over 24 hours, with daily volume of about $425.2 million and an intraday range between $4,985.75 and $5,088.73. Tether Gold (XAUT) changed hands near $5,013.23, little changed on the day, after rising 7.4% over the past week and 11.41% over the past month.
Both tokens have tracked spot gold closely. The report also noted that Ondo (ONDO) was up about 0.3% in 24 hours, PAXG gained roughly 0.6% on the day, Maker (MKR) added around 2% to 3%, and Chainlink (LINK) traded slightly lower. Analysts cited in the source said these names may be resisting the broader crypto downturn better than much of the market.
Tokenized commodities are growing, but still tiny
Data from CoinMetrics and Tokeny put the tokenized commodities segment, led by gold-backed tokens such as PAXG and XAUT, at roughly $0.8 billion to $1 billion in the latest comprehensive report. Compared with the multi-trillion-dollar spot gold market, that remains a very small niche.
More recent industry research points to faster growth into 2026 as regulatory clarity improves and large institutions test on-chain funds and vault-linked products. Even so, the segment remains volatile. In one recent week, RWA perpetuals volume climbed above $15.5 billion while gold futures fell more than 10% and silver dropped nearly 28%, triggering liquidations in leveraged positions.
Altcoins face structural pressure beyond short-term fear
The report argues that the extreme chart setup is not only about panic selling. Altcoins, especially RWA-related names outside the top 100, have been hit by two forces at once: supply dilution from new issuance and unlocks, and tighter liquidity conditions that favor gold over more speculative tokens.
Some market participants see the move as a sign of extreme oversold conditions and a possible opportunity for investors willing to absorb volatility. Others see the risk of a value trap. Based on the source material, the next move depends less on narrative and more on whether broader macro liquidity conditions change. Until then, gold’s strength and altcoin underperformance remain the dominant comparison.