The Wave of Gold Tokenization: Millennium-Old Safe-Haven Asset Embraces Blockchain, Trillion-Scale Financial Shift Is Here

On January 16, 2026, Tang Bo, Assistant Dean of the Institute of Financial Studies at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, made a major announcement at the Zhuo Jian Famous Experts Investment Summit—gold tokenization is becoming a core breakout point in the Real-World Assets (RWA) track. This is not merely a technological iteration but a reconstruction of the underlying logic of traditional finance. In the current context of escalating geopolitical games and instability in the US dollar system, this oldest safe-haven asset is being reborn through blockchain, and we may be standing at a critical node of a new wave of wealth transfer.

1. End of Gold ETFs? Rise of Gold Tokens: A Dimensionality-Reduction Financial Revolution

The glorious era of traditional gold ETFs may be drawing to a close.

Tang Bo precisely pointed out the core distinction: gold tokens are “digital receipts” anchored 1:1 to physical gold, allowing holders to redeem actual gold from Swiss vaults at any time; whereas gold ETFs are essentially “benefit rights certificates,” represented only as a string of digital records in brokerage accounts.

More importantly, gold tokens have achieved a leap in financial attributes:

• On-Chain Yield: Traditional gold stored in vaults loses value appreciation potential, but gold tokens can generate annual yields of 3%-12% through DeFi ecosystems such as collateralized lending and liquidity mining.

• 24/7 Liquidity: Gold ETFs are limited by exchange trading hours, while gold tokens leverage blockchain to enable 24-hour global trading with T+0 real-time settlement.

• Programmability: Smart contracts empower gold tokens with functions like automatic payments, clearing, and derivatives trading—breakthroughs that physical gold cannot achieve.

According to PANews data, the on-chain RWA total scale surged to $18.6 billion in 2025, a 232% increase year-over-year, with gold tokens holding an absolute dominant position. DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have completed cross-border settlement pilot projects for gold tokens under Singapore’s regulatory framework, reducing settlement processes from days to minutes.

2. Institutional Players Competing: From BlackRock to DBS Bank, Real Money Flows Into the Track

Market intuition always leads the hype.

BlackRock’s crypto investment portfolio grew from $54.77 billion at the start of 2024 to $102.09 billion, with gold RWAs occupying a significant position. This reflects the strategic shift of traditional asset management giants: clients desire the safety of physical gold but also want the yield flexibility of crypto assets, and gold tokens perfectly meet this demand.

The pilot projects by DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank are especially indicative. Both banks use gold tokens to replace physical gold bars for cross-border settlement, significantly reducing costs related to transportation and insurance, and more critically, transforming gold from a “sleeping asset” into a “highly liquid financial instrument.”

By 2025, institutional custody platforms like Fireblocks and Copper fully integrated mainstream gold tokens such as XAUt and PAXG, enabling family offices and hedge funds to manage “vault-level” assets via enterprise interfaces without managing complex private keys themselves. Phemex launched a dedicated institutional account system supporting gold tokens as cross-platform margin collateral, increasing capital utilization by over 300%.

Regulatory breakthroughs are also emerging. In July 2025, the US “GENIUS Act” clarified the legal status of physical-backed tokens, while regions like Hong Kong, Japan, and the UAE have introduced new regulations on digital asset custody. Based on this, Tang Bo predicts: “Asia will become the core hub for global gold tokenization development.”

3. Epic Breakthrough in Financial Attributes: Gold Transforms into a “Super Currency”

Tokenization is not simply mapping gold onto the blockchain but endowing it with unprecedented financial “superpowers.”

1. Neutral Collateral: A “Backup Plan” for Hedging US Dollar System Risks

Currently, DeFi ecosystems heavily rely on USDT, USDC, and other dollar stablecoins, with underlying assets concentrated in US Treasuries, which harbor significant geopolitical risks. Gold tokens are not dependent on any sovereign credit; their prices are determined by global market consensus, offering greater stability in extreme market conditions.

Today, leading DeFi protocols like MakerDAO have officially accepted gold tokens as collateral for DAI stablecoins—an unimaginable scenario in 2022.

2. “Lubricant” for Cross-Border Payments

In multi-polar payment networks like mBridge and BRICS Pay, gold tokens can serve as “neutral bridging assets” between different currency systems—they do not replace sovereign currencies but can effectively reduce friction costs and political risks in cross-border transactions. Imagine Middle Eastern oil traders paying Chinese sellers without using SWIFT or worrying about settlement currencies; gold tokens could become the “greatest common divisor” for both parties’ clearing and settlement.

3. “Ideal Asset” for Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals

Tang Bo emphasizes that gold tokens are highly attractive to ultra-high-net-worth individuals: they combine the “security” of physical gold with the “yield potential” of on-chain assets. They can borrow liquidity against gold tokens while retaining the right to withdraw physical gold—an impossible feature in traditional finance.

4. Risks Behind Opportunities: This Revolution Is Not Utopian

We must recognize that gold tokenization is still in its early stages, with both opportunities and risks.

Historical lessons show that during market downturns in 2022, some gold-backed tokens collapsed, mainly due to opaque physical gold reserves and questionable issuer credentials. Investors should focus on three key factors:

• Does the issuer establish an independent custodial trust?

• Is there integration with Chainlink oracles for 24/7 real-time reserve proof?

• Is the legal framework clear in safeguarding token holders’ physical redemption rights?

Currently, the market size of gold tokens is only about $1 billion, a tiny fraction compared to the $12 trillion global gold market. Liquidity depth, unclear tax rules, and high costs of redemption across jurisdictions remain critical bottlenecks.

5. The Future Is Here: The Dawn of Gold Digital Revival

The latest report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) states that the new generation of financial systems must build on three pillars: central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance, commercial bank deposit tokenization, and high-quality asset tokenization. Gold is the best representative of “high-quality assets.”

Tang Bo predicts that gold will become the third major RWA category to achieve large-scale tokenization after USD stablecoins and government bonds. Citibank’s forecast is even more aggressive, estimating that by 2030, the tokenized digital securities market will reach $4-5 trillion, with gold tokens occupying a significant share.

It is noteworthy that 2025-2027 will be the regulatory dividend period for gold tokenization, as institutional infrastructure accelerates. Once gold tokens break through critical points in liquidity, compliance, and user experience, a “great migration” of capital from gold ETFs to on-chain tokens will occur, and the entry cost for ordinary investors will rise exponentially.

Conclusion: The Wealth Transfer Behind the Evolution of Gold Forms

Over 3,000 years, gold has evolved from shell money to coins, from the gold standard era to ETFs, with each transformation accompanied by a shift in wealth and power. Today, blockchain technology endows gold with three new attributes: programmability, high capital efficiency, and global liquidity.

This is not a speculative trend but a generational upgrade of financial infrastructure. When DBS Bank completes cross-border settlement with gold tokens, when BlackRock heavily allocates on-chain gold, and when Hong Kong’s SFC issues its first gold token custody license—savvy capital has already begun strategic positioning.

For ordinary investors, participation paths are now clear: choose compliant projects with LBMA-certified vault reserves, integrated with Chainlink PoR (Proof of Reserve), and clear legal frameworks (such as Tether Gold XAUt, Paxos PAXG), allocate 10%-20% of their portfolio, hedge fiat devaluation risks, and enjoy the value-added benefits of the on-chain ecosystem.

🔥 A historic wealth reconfiguration is unfolding—will you watch from the sidelines or get involved?

Leave your thoughts in the comments:

1. Do you believe in the gold tokenization track? Why?

2. Do you think gold tokens will completely overthrow gold ETFs?

3. Will you allocate to gold tokens? What proportion are you planning?

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#黄金： $BTC