Crypto Market Maker DWF Labs Enters Physical Gold Trading as Bullion Hits Record Highs

• DWF Labs completed its first physical gold trade by settling a 25-kilogram bar through traditional bullion clearing systems instead of using blockchain technology.
• Gold has significantly outperformed Bitcoin in 2025 with a 70% return compared to Bitcoin’s negative 6.7% leading the firm to target silver and cotton next.
• The move marks a broader strategy for crypto firms to diversify revenue into physical commodities and traditional finance amid fluctuating digital asset trading volumes.

DWF Labs said it has completed its first physical gold deal, settling a trade for a single 25-kilogram bar. 

The crypto market maker framed the transaction as a pilot and said it intends to grow this line of business.

What stands out is how it was done, as the settlement ran through standard bullion custody and clearing systems, not blockchain infrastructure. In effect, DWF is stepping into the existing commodities supply chain rather than turning metals into tokens first.

Related: Canton Network Trial Proves Real-Time Collateral Reuse for Tokenised Treasuries

The shift comes as metals have drawn strong demand this year. Gold futures have set new records above US$4,500 (AU$6,885) per troy ounce, supported by central bank buying, geopolitical risk, and expectations that interest rates may eventually fall. Against that backdrop, physical commodities have offered a clearer trend than much of the crypto market.

Gold Outpaces Bitcoin

Even more, in 2025, gold has vastly outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) year-to-date (YTD). Gold has returned approximately 70%, while Bitcoin has posted a slightly negative return, around -6.7%. And yes, Peter Schief is having the best time of his life.

Anyway, DWF said it wants to extend the same approach to other commodities, naming silver, platinum and cotton as next targets. That points to a broader push by crypto firms to add revenue streams that do not depend solely on digital-asset trading volumes.

The company is still expanding inside crypto as well, including a US$250 million (AU$382 million) fund for mid-cap blockchain projects and a US$75 million (AU$114.7 million) institutional DeFi fund. 

Elsewhere in the sector, other firms are also moving closer to traditional finance, through products like tokenised equities and efforts to operate under bank or trust-style regulatory structures.

Read more: Securitize CEO: Tokenisation Doesn’t Magically Make Illiquid Assets Liquid

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