Whale earns 3.45 million in 25 days: Why has the gold token XAUT become the new favorite

A major whale has purchased 9,439 XAUT at an average price of $4,463 over the past 25 days, investing 42.13 million USDe, with an unrealized profit of approximately $3.45 million. This transaction employed a circular lending strategy, reflecting the growing on-chain interest in gold tokens. Meanwhile, several other whales have recently made large-scale acquisitions of XAUT, indicating an increased market focus on safe-haven assets.

Precise Whale Positioning

Earnings from the Circular Lending Strategy

The most noteworthy aspect of this transaction is the operational approach—whales used a circular lending method to complete the purchase. This strategy allows traders to leverage borrowed funds for investment, profiting from asset appreciation. Based on the current XAUT price of $4,824.63, the 9,439 XAUT held by the whale has already generated significant unrealized gains.

Why Choose XAUT

XAUT (Tether Gold) is a gold-backed token issued by Tether, with each token representing 1 ounce of London-delivered gold. The whale’s operation coincided with a time window when gold prices hit a record high. According to recent reports, XAUT has increased by 7.54% over the past 30 days and 4.68% over the past 7 days, outperforming most other cryptocurrencies.

Market Signal: On-Chain Funds Concentrate in Gold Tokens

This transaction is not an isolated event. Recent reports indicate that multiple whales have been actively accumulating XAUT:

• On January 21, a whale swapped 26.85 WBTC (about $2.39 million) for 490.4 XAUT at an average price of $4,877
• On January 20, whale 0x4b6c exchanged 326 XAUT and 10,978 SLVON for 724 ETH, suggesting profit-taking and position adjustment
• During the same period, another whale purchased 438.74 XAUT with approximately $2.12 million worth of ETH, WTAO, and USDT

These actions suggest that, amid increasing market uncertainty, institutions and large investors are shifting funds into safe-haven assets. As an on-chain exposure to gold, XAUT has become a key allocation choice.

Supporting Market Context

XAUT’s current market performance further confirms this trend:

• Market cap has reached $212 million, ranking 39th among cryptocurrencies
• 24-hour trading volume is $341.64 million, indicating ample liquidity
• Over the past year, market cap has more than tripled (from about $700 million to over $2.4 billion)

Additional reports show that the tokenized gold sector has outperformed the broader market, reflecting rising market recognition of on-chain traditional safe-haven assets.

Summary

This transaction highlights two key signals: first, whales are leveraging strategies like circular lending to precisely seize market opportunities and achieve substantial short-term gains; second, the concentrated positioning of multiple on-chain large holders indicates that gold tokens are becoming a new market hedge. While XAUT’s market activity and liquidity are improving, investors should remain cautious of liquidity risks and market volatility associated with such tokens.