Gold crossed $4,200 an ounce.

Silver blasted past $50 for the first time in four decades. (Apparently, all it took was the entire Paradigm crew going to Nashville.)

BUT.

The most interesting thing happening in precious metals isn’t the price…

It’s the plumbing.

(Paradigm Mastermind Group members know we’re all about plumbing today.)

In this case, I’m talking about new digital rails set to move trillions at the speed of electrons.

And while the implications are getting big for gold…

They get even bigger for the so-called “poor man’s metal.”

Way bigger.

Allow me to explain.

“Gold With an Internet Connection”

Start with scale.

Global gold demand in 2025 is running at roughly 4,700 tons, worth over $500 billion at current prices.

Meanwhile, a new kind of demand for gold is forming—digital tokens backed by real bullion you can hold, trade, or plug into DeFi at 2 a.m.

Two names dominate the “gold stablecoin” space right now: Tether Gold (XAU₮) and Paxos’ PAX Gold (PAXG).

Yes, we’re in the stupid early stages. The entire tokenized gold market is only about $2.5 billion. Less than 1% of global demand. A rounding error.

BUT… it’s a market growing at triple-digit speed.

Stablecoin giant Tether is reportedly quietly raking in more gold than most countries. In fact, Tom Lee of Fundstrat recently told CNBC that “stablecoins like Tether may now be among gold’s biggest buyers.”

But here’s the thing to focus on…

The people buying these gold stablecoins aren’t traditional gold buyers. They’re not selling gold bars or ETFs to get them.

They’re crypto natives and global investors who want to hold a 24/7, borderless asset.

That’s new. That’s structural. And it’s pulling gold into a younger, faster, always-on financial layer.

Why Silver Stablecoins Will Be Bigger

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Though silver feels “easy” to buy in the West, for much of the planet there’s more friction than you would expect. In some cases, even more than gold.

For example, many countries already have established import, tax, and banking channels for gold because it’s used in reserves, jewelry, and trade settlement.

Silver, by contrast, is treated more like an industrial commodity—which means more red tape, VAT, and import duties.

Also…

• ETFs like SLV and SIVR are fenced inside U.S. and U.K. markets. Many investors in Asia, Africa, and Latin America can’t access them easily.

• Physical bullion is often scarce, taxed, and sold 20–40% above spot.

• Many countries—from India to Brazil—restrict bullion imports or lack reliable dealers.

Meanwhile, $100 billion+ in stablecoins already circulates through Latin America alone—a flow of capital that could easily bridge into metal-backed coins.

Upon writing, gold-backed tokens have already crossed ~75,000 holders. Now imagine that same wave hitting a smaller, tighter market like silver.

It’s not a wild bet.

Silver fits the online investor psychology. It’s long been the “people’s metal”—smaller, scrappier, and retail-driven.

Moreover, the same crowd that joined the 2021 #SilverSqueeze is now fluent in crypto wallets and DeFi pools.

It’s only a matter of time—IMO—they move into the “silver stablecoin” space.

The High-Beta Metal for the On-Chain Age

Consider the implications of tokenized silver—a $200 million market—catching up to tokenized gold.

A $2–3 billion tokenized silver market, trivial by most standards, would soak up 100+ million ounces.

For a metal that’s seeing its fifth year of structural deficits, that’s not a rounding error.

That’s a potential catapult.

IN SHORT… 

Tether’s XAU₮ showed tokenization can create new demand for real assets. Suddenly, gold now lives in the same system as stablecoins.

Silver will follow, but with crazier downstream effects. Its market is smaller, its volatility greater, and its cultural gravity stronger among retail investors.

If even a sliver of crypto capital—say, 1% of stablecoin reserves—rotates into tokenized silver, the impact would dwarf what we’ve seen with gold.

EVEN SHORTER…

Gold was the first hard asset to be digitized at scale. Silver could be the first to feel it in price.

And that’s something worth paying attention to.