Binance CEO Challenges Tokenized Gold Trust Amid Peter Schiff Platform Plans

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, has criticized tokenized gold assets like PAXG and XAUT, labeling them "trust me bro" tokens because they depend on third-party custodians rather than representing true "on-chain" gold. CZ argues that these tokens are essentially promises to deliver physical gold later, which introduces trust and counterparty risk, contrasting with Bitcoin's fully on-chain nature and decentralized trust model. This critique has sparked a public debate with gold advocate Peter Schiff, who plans to launch a tokenized gold platform that he claims will enable gold to be used as a stable digital asset for payments and trading, thereby enhancing liquidity and accessibility. Schiff believes tokenized gold can capture market share from Bitcoin by combining tangible backing with blockchain convenience, while CZ warns that reliance on custodians undermines the value proposition of such tokens. Despite the market capitalization of gold-backed digital assets exceeding $3.75 billion recently, CZ points out that these assets have struggled to gain lasting adoption due to their trust-based structure. The debate highlights ongoing tensions in the crypto community about the viability and true blockchain integration of real-world asset tokenization.