Gold, Crypto, and Larry David: What Could Go Wrong?

So, You Wanna Trade Gold on the Blockchain? Let’s Talk PAXG/USDC on Stabull

By Jamie McCormick, Co-CMO, Stabull Labs. Yeah, that’s a title.

Part 1 of the “Deconstructing DeFi” Series. Because who doesn’t love a 15-part series?

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Tokenized gold. Sounds fancy, right? Like, “I’m not just trading crypto, I’m trading gold, baby!” But let’s be real-it’s not all glitter. Gold’s price is as unpredictable as my ex’s mood swings, and it’s traded everywhere but your local bodega. So, bringing it on-chain? That’s like trying to teach a cat to fetch. Good luck.

This case study? It’s about the PAXG/USDC pool on Stabull. From its humble beginnings in December 2024 to its “oh, gold hit $5,000?” moment in January 2026. Spoiler alert: it’s a wild ride, but not as wild as my last trip to Costco.

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Gold on the Blockchain: Because Why Not?

PAXG is basically gold in token form. One token = one ounce of gold sitting in a London vault. Fancy, right? USDC is the stablecoin sidekick, keeping things grounded. Together, they’re like peanut butter and jelly-except one’s volatile and the other’s, well, stable. Go figure.

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Pool Party: December 2024 Edition

The PAXG/USDC pool launched on December 9, 2024. Big day. Except, nothing happened. No swaps, no fees, just crickets. It was like throwing a party and forgetting to invite people. But hey, infrastructure’s gotta start somewhere, right?

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Phase One: The Ghost Town Phase (Dec 2024 – Early 2025)

This phase was as exciting as watching paint dry. Low TVL, sporadic liquidity adjustments, and idle periods longer than my attention span. Basically, the pool was there, but nobody cared. Yet.

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Phase Two: Let’s Bribe People to Care (Mid-2025)

Stabull said, “Hey, let’s incentivize this thing!” So they did. TVL went from “meh” to “okay, that’s something.” But swaps? Still rare. It’s like giving out free pizza at a party-people show up, but they’re not dancing yet.

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Late 2025: The Pool’s Just Chillin’

By late 2025, the pool was stable. Not exciting, but stable. Like my aunt’s casserole. Execution was light, but everything worked. It was ready for its close-up, even if nobody was watching.

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January 2026: Gold Goes Crazy, Pool Goes Wild

Then gold hit $5,000. And boom. The pool woke up. 1,488 swaps, $136,000 in volume. It was like the blockchain version of Black Friday. Trades came in bursts, probably from bots because who has time for that?

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Aggregators: The Unsung Heroes

OpenOcean integrated Stabull in the final week. No fanfare, no confetti. Just quietly making the pool discoverable. Because aggregators don’t send volume-they’re like matchmakers, introducing venues to routing systems. Romantic, huh?

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On-Chain vs. Off-Chain: It’s Complicated

PAXG prices on Stabull tracked real-world gold prices like a stalker. Deviations? Small and temporary. Because oracles are like GPS-sometimes they’re off, but they get you there eventually.

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Capital Efficiency: Doing More with Less

The pool had about $20,000 in liquidity, but turned over 6.5× in January. It’s like using a single sock for a week-not ideal, but it works. And execution quality? Surprisingly decent.

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Fees: The Real MVP

The pool charges 0.015% per swap. Liquidity providers got $11.7 in January, which is like finding a $20 bill in your old jeans. APR? Around 0.8-1.2%. Not bad for just sitting there.

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Gold: Not Just for Necklaces Anymore

In traditional markets, gold just sits there. Boring. But in this pool? It’s used. Liquidity providers get exposure to gold and earn fees. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. Except the cake is gold. And crypto.

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Verifiability: Because Trust, but Verify

Everything’s on-chain. Add or remove liquidity anytime. Fees? They’re there, waiting for you. Check it out:

PAXG/USDC pool on Polygon
https://app.stabull.finance/pools/0x553d3D295e0f695B9228246232eDF400ed3560B5?chain=137

And there’s a Merkl campaign too. Because who doesn’t love extra incentives?

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The Moral of the Story

The PAXG/USDC pool didn’t become a hit overnight. It went through phases-like a teenager. And when gold finally went crazy, the pool was ready. Stabull didn’t force it; they just waited. Like me at the DMV.

About the Author

Jamie McCormick is Co-Chief Marketing Officer at Stabull Finance. He’s been in crypto since 2013, which is like a lifetime in dog years. He also founded Bitcoin Marketing Team, Europe’s oldest crypto marketing agency. Because who needs sleep when you have blockchain?

2026-02-13 00:44