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.

What is the benefit of having physical assets on a blockchain?

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!

How much gold is backing the total supply of PAX Gold (PAXG)?

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.

Can I get a fractional amount of a PAX Gold (PAXG) token?

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).

What does allocated and unallocated gold mean?

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.