As Gold Continues Its Record Run, DWF Labs Makes Its First Physical Trade – And Eyes Expansion Into Silver, Platinum

• Web3 investing firm DWF Labs conducted its first physical gold transaction with a 25-kilogram bar.
• DWF Labs’s Andrei Grachev announced on X that the company is looking to expand into silver, platinum, and cotton.
• As of 2025, real-world assets are quickly emerging as a key sector within cryptocurrency, with tokenized funds growing exponentially.

DWF Labs, a Web3 market maker and strategic investor, has completed its first physical gold transaction, settling a 25-kilogram gold bar on Monday. This move marked a step beyond digital assets as crypto firms look to build real-world asset infrastructure.

Andrei Grachev, head of DWF Labs, said on X that DWF Labs plans to expand into trading physical silver, platinum, and cotton as part of its push into the real-world asset (RWA) market. He added that the gold trade was executed as a test tranche and that the firm plans to scale its operations to include physical silver, platinum, and cotton, thereby positioning DWF Labs as an active participant in commodity-backed RWA infrastructure. 

While details around counterparties, pricing, or timelines were not disclosed, Grachev said this gold trade lays the groundwork for expanding into additional commodities. 

The Push For RWAs

Real-world assets have emerged as one of crypto’s fastest-growing sectors in 2025. Tokenized Treasury and money-market funds grew quickly, with assets rising nearly 80% year-to-date to over $7.4 billion, according to a report by Financial Times, driven by issuers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton. 

Institutional investors have increasingly favored RWA products that offer on-chain efficiency while maintaining links to off-chain assets. This is particularly true in precious metals markets, where asset backing and delivery certainty are essential for credibility. 

Gold’s Record Run 

In 2025, the precious metal market surged towards a record high, according to the Wall Street Journal. Gold reached a record high price of $4,400 per ounce on Monday. SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) was trading at $405.48, up nearly 2% in premarket hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPDR Gold Shares changed to ‘bullish' territory from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter.

This takes place at the same time as China, which has a strict ban on trading cryptocurrencies, is exploring the use of blockchain technology in other areas, such as real-world asset tokenization. As per Reuters, companies on China's tropical island of Hainan are trying to turn Huanghuali trees, a rare and precious form of rosewood, into digital assets that can be traded. 

Read also: Citi Cuts Targets On Four Crypto Stocks, Says Move Is About Valuation — Not Risk

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