-
PAXG
spiked
as
high
as
$2,923
on
Saturday,
trading
at
premium
of
over
20%
to
gold’s
per
ounce
price
of
$2,342.90
on
Friday. -
Bitcoin
traded
at
a
perfect
negative
correlation
to
PAXG
in
a
sign
of
weak
demand
as
a
geopolitical
hedge.
Prices
for
PAX
Gold
(PAXG),
a
gold-backed
digital
asset
created
by
Paxos,
surged
over
the
weekend
as
escalating
geopolitical
tensions
in
the
Middle
East
catalyzed
demand
for
haven
assets.
PAXG
rose
as
high
as
$2,923
on
Saturday,
trading
at
a
premium
of
over
20%
to
the
yellow
metal’s
per-ounce
price
of
$2,342.90
at
Friday’s
New
York
close,
CoinDesk
data
show.
As
of
writing,
PAXG
still
drew
a
notable
premium,
trading
at
$2,471.
Meanwhile,
bitcoin
and
other
major
cryptocurrencies
traded
under
pressure
as
Iran
fired
explosives
at
Israel
in
retaliation
for
a
suspected
Israeli
attack
on
its
consulate
in
Syria
on
April
1.
On
Sunday,
Iran
warned
Israel
and
the
United
States
of
a
much
larger
response
after
Tel
Aviv
said
it
would
respond
to
Iran’s
retaliatory
aggression.
With
a
market
capitalization
of
over
$446
million,
PAXG
is
the
world’s
second-largest
tokenized
gold
coin.
Leading
the
pack
is
tether
gold
(XAUT)
with
a
market
capitalization
of
$581.9
million.
PAXG’s
weekend
surge
did
not
spill
over
into
XAUT
and
other
gold
tokens.
CoinDesk
reached
out
to
Paxos
for
comment
and
awaited
a
response
at
press
time.
Gold
has
surged
over
8%
in
four
weeks,
while
bitcoin
has
declined
by
10%.
On
Friday,
analysts
at
Goldman
Sachs
raised
its
year-end
price
forecast
for
gold
to
$2,700
from
$2,300,
saying
that
momentum
and
retail
investors
haven’t
yet
piled
into
the
yellow
metal.
Leading
indicator
Several
traditional
market
participants
closely
followed
PAG’s
spike
and
BTC’s
slide
over
the
weekend,
wondering
if
the
classic
risk-off
action
in
the
24/7
crypto
market
was
a
sign
of
things
to
come
in
stocks
on
Monday.
“And
so
now
everyone
who
isn’t
involved
in
crypto
is
watching
BTC
to
gauge
the
market
impact
of
war
cuz
it’s
the
only
thing
that’s
open
when
drones
fly,”
Andy
Constan,
founder
of
macroeconomic
research
firm
Damped
Spring,
said
on
X.
Former
Bridgewater
Executive
and
CIO
of
Unlimited
Funds
Bob
Elliot
said
BTC’s
perfect
negative
correlation
with
PAXG
over
the
weekend
dented
the
leading
digital
asset’s
appeal
as
a
geopolitical
hedge.
“Bitcoin
may
be
many
things,
but
it
is
not
a
geopolitical
hedge.
This
weekend
was
another
good
empirical
test.
BTC
traded
with
a
near-perfect
negative
correlation
over
the
last
day
to
PAXG,
a
gold-backed
token.
If
anything
it’s
becoming
an
even
worse
hedge
over
time,”
Elliot
said
on
X.
