WGC moves to standardize tokenized gold beyond Tether and Paxos

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Wgc moves to standardize

Highlights

World Gold Council proposes standards for tokenized gold market.
New platform aims to unify and scale digital gold products.
Initiative could boost institutional adoption and financial integration.

Gold digitalization is already a reality

Until now, the tokenized gold market has largely been driven by crypto companies such as Tether and Paxos, which developed their own physical storage mechanisms and token issuance channels. However, a broader group of gold industry participants and financial institutions is now joining the space.

On Thursday, WGC, together with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), released a report titled “Digital Gold: The Case for a Common Infrastructure”, outlining the concept of “Gold as a Service.” This proposed platform would support the issuance and management of scalable and interoperable gold-backed digital products.

While gold has already undergone significant digital transformation through clearing systems and the growing number of tokenized products, WGC notes that the scale of digital gold remains limited due to challenges related to standardization and interoperability.

The “Gold as a Service” model is envisioned as an open platform linking physical gold storage with digital systems used to issue and manage gold-backed products. According to the report, standardizing core processes—such as custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption—could reduce operational complexity, improve accessibility, and increase consistency across digital gold products.

In 2004, WGC played a key role in launching the first gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, which now has a market capitalization of $126 billion. By comparison, the combined market capitalization of Tether Gold and PAX Gold has reached $4.9 billion since their launch five years ago.

WGC views the development of standards for digital gold products as a strategic opportunity to strengthen its position in the evolving market. The proposed platform is expected to simplify product creation and enable new participants to enter the space, with digital gold functioning as a unified asset with consistent value and legal rights across the ecosystem.

A turning point for gold and precious metals

Certified digital gold products are expected to gain stronger acceptance among traditional financial institutions, crypto companies, and end users. This could transform digital gold into accessible capital, enabling new use cases such as collateral in lending.

More broadly, WGC’s initiative could mark a turning point for the tokenized asset market by bridging traditional gold industry players with digital finance. If successfully implemented, it could create a more transparent and standardized infrastructure, lowering barriers for institutional investors and increasing trust in digital gold compared to existing crypto-native solutions.

Furthermore, the emergence of unified standards could transform tokenized gold from a niche instrument into a core component of the global financial system. This would unlock new use cases—from cross-border payments to DeFi applications—where gold can serve as a liquid and reliable form of collateral. Over time, such developments may accelerate the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain-based assets into a hybrid financial model.

As we wrote, Tether becomes one of top non-sovereign gold buyers after aggressive accumulation

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