CZ Slams Tokenized Gold as a 'Trust Me Bro' Token: Why Has On-Chain Gold Never Worked?

Core Insights - Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) criticized tokenized gold projects, labeling them as "trust me bro" tokens, which he argues compromise the principles of decentralization [1][7][8] - Peter Schiff, a proponent of gold, plans to launch his own gold-backed token while criticizing the prevalence of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins [2][3] Market Overview - The market capitalization of gold reached $30 trillion for the first time, driven by a shift towards more stable currencies amid economic uncertainty [3] - Gold-backed tokens have grown to nearly $3 billion in value, yet they remain a small segment of the overall market compared to the global stablecoin market, which exceeds $260 billion [4] Critique of Tokenized Gold - CZ argues that tokenized gold relies on third-party custodians, which undermines the decentralized nature of blockchain technology [5][6] - He emphasizes that tokenizing physical gold does not equate to being "on-chain," as it merely transfers trust from banks to private custodians [5][8] - The reliance on intermediaries is cited as a key reason why gold-backed tokens have not gained significant traction in the market [8]