Tokenized Commodities Look Beyond Gold as Oil and Lending Open New Markets

Tokenized commodities remain overwhelmingly a gold market as of October 2026, yet new products tied to oil, silver, copper, and oilfield lending have started to widen the category. The pattern points to a second phase for tokenized commodities beyond gold, one shaped by industrial resources and on-chain credit.

The sector totals roughly $5 billion across dozens of tracked assets, and two gold tokens, Tether Gold ($XAUT) and Paxos Gold ($PAXG), account for more than 90% of that value, according to Token Terminal. Gold became the first commodity to tokenize at scale because of its long role as a store of value, and demand strengthened after the metal set record highs in early 2026. These products sit inside the wider effort to bring bonds, real estate, and commodities on-chain, a trend that has connected DeFi with traditional finance.

Tokenized Commodities Move Beyond Gold

Ondo Finance offers three of the clearest examples past bullion. Its tokenized silver, oil, and copper products, named SLVon, USOon, and COPXon, track the iShares Silver Trust, the United States Oil Fund, and the Global X Copper Miners ETF, and all three launched after Ondo Global Markets went live in September 2025. Each stays small in absolute terms, with the silver token the largest of the group.

The oil token drew unusual activity in March 2026. Its weekly transfer volume climbed above $100 million during the Strait of Hormuz crisis, as oil prices approached $100 per barrel and on-chain investors sought fast exposure without traditional market access, Token Terminal data shows.

Oil Brings Lending On-Chain

Oil is also where tokenization has begun to carry credit. In October 2025, tokenization firm Zoniqx powered the launch of a tokenized upstream oil and gas fund for One World Petroleum on the Hedera network. The fund combines acquisitions of proven producing oil assets with secured lending to operators, structured as a tokenized private placement.

“World’s first upstream Oil & Gas fund proves that real world assets can be brought on-chain with compliance and institutional scale at the core,” said Prasanth Kalangi, founder and CEO of Zoniqx.

The lending component marks a shift in what tokenized commodities can do. Tokenized gold and other commodities are increasingly used as collateral inside DeFi lending markets, giving holders a way to borrow against assets they already hold.

Indian investors recently gained direct access to the gold end of the market, after CoinDCX listed Tether Gold and launched a ₹100 investment plan on the token in August 2026.

Gold still defines the category, and oil carries physical frictions, including storage and delivery obligations, that make it harder to bring on-chain than bullion. The open question is whether oil, metals, and resource-backed lending can attract enough on-chain demand to turn tokenized commodities into more than a gold trade.

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