PAX Gold redemption and the real cost of fees

All PAXG fees at a glance

PAX Gold has two kinds of costs. The first are fees charged by the issuer, Paxos Trust Company, N.A., when you create new tokens, redeem them or convert them into gold through a Paxos account. The second are the costs of the market: exchange trading fees, spreads and blockchain gas. Most holders only ever pay the second kind, because they buy and sell on exchanges and never deal with Paxos directly.

Paxos changed its fee model on 1 September 2026, so many older guides are now wrong. The table below reflects the Paxos fee page as checked on 12 October 2026. Fees charged by Paxos apply only to conversions through a Paxos account; they do not apply to trades on an exchange order book.

Creation fees

Creation is what happens when a verified Paxos customer sends US dollars and Paxos mints new PAXG backed by fresh gold. Right now it costs nothing. Paxos is running a promotion that waives creation fees through 1 January 2027. An earlier version of the fee page said the waiver ran only to 30 September 2026, so it has already been extended once. It could be extended again or end on schedule; check the fee page before a large purchase.

When the waiver ends, Paxos’s published schedule applies by order size:

• Under 2 oz: a flat 0.02 PAXG
• 2 to 25 oz: 1.00%
• 25 to 50 oz: 0.75%
• 50 to 75 oz: 0.50%
• 75 to 200 oz: 0.25%
• 200 to 800 oz: 0.15%
• Over 800 oz: 0.125%

The flat fee is the one to watch. On a 1-ounce order it works out to 2%, and on a 0.5-ounce order to 4%. That makes direct creation expensive for small buyers after the waiver, and it is one reason most people buy on an exchange instead. Our how to buy PAX Gold guide covers the exchange route step by step.

Redemption fees

Redemption means handing PAXG back to Paxos and receiving US dollars at the current gold market price. Since 1 September 2026 the fee depends on each account’s rolling 30-day net redemptions, meaning redemptions minus creations over the past 30 days. The bands work marginally, like income-tax brackets: only the part of your volume inside a band pays that band’s rate.

For almost every individual, only the first band matters: 0.125%. The higher bands target large holders who pull big amounts out quickly. Market makers who create and redeem in similar amounts stay at the bottom rate, because their net figure stays low. Note that some third-party reviews, including a widely cited August 2026 risk report, still quote the old size-based schedule of 1.00% down to 0.125%; that schedule no longer applies.

Conversion, inactivity and gas

In-kind conversion. Since 1 September 2026 converting PAXG into allocated or unallocated gold costs 0.05%. Unallocated Loco London gold is available to institutional customers who have a saved Loco London account. Allocated gold is the route to a physical bar.

Inactivity. The PAX Gold terms (§15.5) set a $2 monthly charge on a Paxos account that holds a balance and has had no issuance or redemption activity for twelve months or longer. On a large balance that is trivial. On a small one it adds up: $24 a year on a balance worth $400 is a 6% annual cost. If you do not plan to use your Paxos account, do not leave a small balance sitting in it.

Transfers and gas. Paxos charges nothing to move PAXG between wallets. The original on-chain fee of about 0.02% has been removed, and the current token contract on Etherscan has no fee logic. You still pay the network’s gas fee in ETH on Ethereum or SOL on Solana. On Solana the Token-2022 transfer-fee setting is at zero but could technically be switched on again. Our PAXG networks page explains both chains.

Redeeming a physical bar

Yes, you can swap PAXG for real metal, but only in wholesale size. The terms (§11.4) set a minimum of 430 PAXG plus the fee in the Paxos user guide, because a London Good Delivery bar weighs roughly 350 to 430 troy ounces. You may face extra due diligence when you choose allocated gold.

Delivery is to vaults in the UK only, and you arrange it yourself. The terms say you are responsible for delivery once the bars are in the hands of the delivery service you choose. Because bars vary in weight, Paxos credits back any PAXG above the actual weight of the bar you receive. If you send 430 PAXG and your bar weighs 404 ounces, the extra 26 PAXG returns to your account. Paxos does not publish the physical delivery and logistics fee on its fee page, so ask for a quote before you start. For background on the bars themselves, see our gold backing guide.

We found no official Paxos programme for redeeming into small bars or coins. Retail redemption is, in practice, a redemption into dollars.

Who can redeem

Only verified customers can deal with Paxos directly. The terms (§4.11) state that only verified customers may purchase PAXG from Paxos, and the same account and KYC checks apply to redemption. If you bought PAXG on an exchange and have no Paxos account, you cannot redeem directly; you would need to open and verify one first, or sell on the market.

Eligibility follows applicable law, and Paxos does not publish a full list of eligible countries. One exclusion is explicit: Paxos says “PAXG is currently unavailable in the EU”, which covers buying and redeeming at the issuer. EU residents can still trade PAXG on some exchanges, a distinction our country guides explain market by market.

Cheaper exits: selling on an exchange

For most holders the cheapest way out of PAXG is not redemption at all. It is selling to another buyer on an exchange. You pay the exchange’s trading fee and the bid-ask spread, but none of the Paxos fees, and there is no account at Paxos to open or minimum to meet. The trade-off is that your price depends on the market, which has historically stayed very close to spot gold but can drift by around 1% in stressed moments or at weekends.

Liquidity is the thing to check. PAXG/USDT books on large exchanges are usually far deeper than fiat pairs; our PAXG exchanges list shows which venues list which pairs, and our PAXG trading guide explains spreads. CEX.IO, in business since 2013 and licensed as a money transmitter in 38 US states plus DC, is one venue that lists PAXG, with its real liquidity in the PAXG/USDT pair. Whichever exchange you use, compare its withdrawal fees too, because they vary a lot.

Worked cost examples

These examples use an illustrative gold price of $4,000 per ounce to keep the arithmetic simple. They are not price forecasts. Plug in today’s price with our gold calculator.

Example 1: small redemption to dollars. You redeem 2 PAXG, worth $8,000, through a verified Paxos account. At 0.125% the fee is $10, plus Ethereum gas to send the tokens. Selling the same 2 PAXG on an exchange that charged, say, a 0.1% trading fee would cost $8 plus the spread and any fiat withdrawal fee. For small amounts the two routes are close; convenience usually decides.

Example 2: creating PAXG after the waiver. If you create 1 PAXG from Paxos after 1 January 2027, the flat fee is 0.02 PAXG, about $80, or 2%. Ten ounces cost 1%, so 0.1 PAXG or about $400. One hundred ounces fall in the 0.25% band: about $1,000 on $400,000. Before 1 January 2027, all three cost nothing in Paxos fees.

Example 3: a large redemption. An account redeems $5 million net in 30 days. The first $2 million pays 0.125%, or $2,500. The next $3 million pays 0.25%, or $7,500. The total is $10,000, an effective rate of 0.20%.

Example 4: a physical bar. You convert 430 PAXG into allocated gold. The 0.05% conversion fee is 0.215 PAXG, about $860. On top come the unpublished delivery fee and the cost of your own secure carrier in the UK. That is why physical redemption only makes sense for buyers who already have bullion logistics.

Example 5: the forgotten account. You leave 0.1 PAXG, about $400, idle in a Paxos account for two years. After the first 12 months, the $2 monthly inactivity fee starts; a further year costs $24, or 6% of the balance.

Fees change. Paxos rewrote its redemption schedule in September 2026 and has already extended the creation waiver once. Before any large conversion, read the Paxos PAX Gold fee page on the day you act. For the wider risk picture, including freeze powers and issuer risk, read is PAX Gold safe.