PAX Gold
PAX Gold (PAXG)
This Lookup tool is for PAXG held in on-chain Ethereum wallets (not custodial exchanges/wallets). For PAXG held on Paxos, login to view your allocation report.
A digital token, backed by physical gold
PAX Gold (PAXG) is a digital asset. Each token is backed by one fine troy ounce (t oz) of a 400 oz London Good Delivery gold bar, stored in Brink’s vaults. If you own PAXG, you own the underlying physical gold, held in custody by Paxos Trust Company.
Highly Accessible
Built as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, PAXG can easily be moved or traded anywhere in the world, 24/7. With low investment minimums, now anyone can own a fraction of an LBMA-accredited London Good Delivery gold bar.
Trusted
Paxos is a trust company and custodian, regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. PAXG is also approved and regulated by the DFS and fully-backed by allocated gold held in the most secure, leading vaults in the world. A nationally ranking auditor will attest to the matching supply of PAXG tokens and underlying gold every month.
Redeemable
PAX Gold is the only gold token that you can redeem for LBMA-accredited Good Delivery gold bullion bars. For additional convenience, smaller amounts can be redeemed through a network of physical gold retailers. Institutional customers can also redeem for unallocated Loco London Gold. Paxos customers can always redeem for USD at current gold market prices.
Flexible
Easily convert or redeem PAXG for fiat, physical or unallocated gold via the Paxos platform. Trade PAXG against other digital assets on popular crypto exchanges. Use PAXG wherever ERC-20 tokens are supported.
Low Fees
Extremely competitive fee structure for creations and redemptions of PAXG tokens (0.03-1% based on volume tiers) in the Paxos wallet, low on-chain Ethereum transaction fees (0.02%) for and zero storage fees. As with other ERC-20 tokens, nominal Ethereum gas fees apply for on-chain transactions.
Why PAX Gold?
 |
Major Gold ETFs | Gold Futures (COMEX) | Retail physical gold coins, bars and other gold products | LBMA 400 t oz gold bar | Unallocated Gold | Other gold tokens | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custody Fees | NO FEE | 19-40 bps per annum | N/A | 10-100 bps per annum | 5-25 bps per annum | 0-10 bps per annum | Up to 100 bps per annum |
| Minimum Purchase | 0.01 t oz ~$20 | 1 share (currently $200) | 1 contract (100 t oz = ~$200K) | Variable | Typically ~$800K minimum per bar | Variable | Variable |
| Time to Settle | INSTANT* | T+2 days | Expiration date | T to T+5 | T+2 | T+2 | Instant |
| Allocated | ✔︎ | Variable | ✗︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✗︎ | Variable |
| Instantly Redeemable for Physical | ✔︎ | ✗︎ | ✗︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✗︎ | Variable |
| Regulated | NYDFS | SEC and equivalents | CFTC | ✗︎ | ✗︎ | ✗︎ | ✗︎ |
* Typical on-chain transactions for PAX Gold moving on Ethereum settle near instantly. When you create PAXG on the Paxos platform, tokens will typically be minted and delivered the same day (some larger transactions will settle the next business day).
PAX Gold Ecosystem
PAX Gold is now handled by over 20 vaults, exchanges, wallets, lending platforms and more including:
Frequently Asked Questions
PAX Gold (PAXG) is an asset-backed token where one token represents one fine troy ounce of a London Good Delivery gold bar, stored in professional vault facilities. Anyone who owns PAXG has ownership rights to that gold under the custody of Paxos Trust Company. Since PAXG represents physical gold, its value is tied directly to the real-time market value of that physical gold.
PAXG gives customers the benefits of actual physical ownership of specific gold bars with the speed and mobility of a digital asset. Customers are able to have fractional ownership of physical bars. On the Paxos platform, customers can convert their tokens to allocated gold, unallocated gold, or fiat currency (and vice versa) quickly and efficiently, reducing their exposure to settlement risk. PAXG is also available for trading on Paxos’ itBit exchange. PAXG will also be available on other crypto-asset exchanges, wallets, lending platforms and elsewhere within the crypto ecosystem.
At any time, PAXG holders can lookup the serial number, value and physical characteristics of their vaulted gold just by entering their Ethereum wallet address on the PAXG lookup tool on Paxos.com/paxgold.
Physical gold on the blockchain has the advantages of representing legal ownership of physical allocated gold, but does not have the drawbacks of limited transportability or high storage costs usually associated with it. Instead, it has the divisibility, fungibility and tradability of any digital asset like bitcoin. In other words, the best of physical and digital assets at the same time!
The amount of gold representing the total supply of PAXG is a 1:1 ratio – one fine troy ounce of gold equals one PAXG token. The total supply of gold representing PAXG changes continuously as the market capitalization of PAXG increases and decreases.
Yes. It is possible to own tiny fractions of a token, which are divisible out to 18 decimal points. If you purchase PAXG directly from Paxos.com, the minimum purchase is 0.01 PAXG (1% of a PAXG token – or roughly $15).
When a customer trades for allocated gold bars, they receive ownership rights to specific gold bars that are held in a precious metal dealer’s vault on the customer’s behalf. Allocated gold is identifiable with a unique serial number, purity, and weighting for each bar.
When a customer trades for unallocated gold, they do not have actual ownership over specific gold bars; instead, they have a general entitlement to a certain quantity of gold that an institution promises to deliver. This is hypothetical gold and is a liability of the institution that one has a claim against. This is similar to the way a traditional bank operates – customers don’t own specific notes, but rather they have a credit that can be paid out upon request.
Whenever you buy or sell PAXG from your Paxos account (on either the wallet or PAX Gold pages), Paxos charges small fees to process both the creation and destruction of PAXG tokens (see fee schedule below). This includes all sales or conversions of PAX Gold to or from USD, PAX, gold bars or unallocated gold.
These fees do not apply on the itBit exchange or anywhere else outside the Paxos wallet.
Whenever PAXG tokens are sent via Ethereum, Paxos charges a small (0.02%) transaction fee, and the Ethereum network charges nominal gas fees (in Ethereum).
| Amount of PAX Gold Tokens | Estimated USD* (based on August 2020 market value of roughly $2k/oz) | Creation & Destruction Fee applied whenever PAXG is converted or redeemed for USD, PAX USD, unallocated gold or gold bars |
| 0.03** – 2 | $2 – $4K | 0.02 PAXG minimum fee |
| 2 – 25 | $4K – $50K | 1.000% |
| 25 – 50 | $50K – $100k | 0.750% |
| 50 – 75 | $100K – $150K | 0.500% |
| 75 – 200 | $150K – $400K | 0.250% |
| 200+ | $400k+ | 0.150% |
*Fee percentage is calculated based on PAXG tokens; USD is included in this chart as an estimate for reference only
**The minimum purchase amount is 0.01 PAXG
Sending a PAX Gold (PAXG) token from one ERC-20 address to another, such as when moving funds from a wallet to an exchange, is an on-chain transaction; possession of the token is transferred and recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.
There are two kinds of fees that occur when you send PAXG on the blockchain:
- Standard ‘gas’ fee: Sending digital assets on Ethereum, requires computing power, or ‘gas.’ Just like any other Ethereum token, PAXG requires standard gas fees paid in ETH to compute the transaction.
- PAXG on-chain transaction fee: PAXG charges an additional fee. That fee is set to 0.02% of the amount of PAXG sent on the blockchain.
For example, if you want to send 10 PAXG from one Ethereum address to another, and you want to ensure that the receiver gets at least 10 PAX after fees, you should send at least 10.0020004001 PAXG total to cover the cost of the on-chain transaction fee. If you initiated a transfer of 10 PAXG, the receiver would get 9.998 PAXG after fees.