Digital gold is becoming a new driving force in the gold market. Although the industry is still in its early stages, the World Gold Council believes that by reshaping the way gold is held, traded, and used in the global financial system, this sector has the potential to unleash hundreds of billions of dollars in incremental investment demand. The World Gold Council, in conjunction with the Boston Consulting Group, released a white paper proposing a plan to co-build and share infrastructure, pushing gold beyond its traditional role as a store of value.

The market has considerable potential, and the existing market size still has huge room for growth.

The white paper estimates that if industry stakeholders overcome obstacles to implementation, increasing market participation and asset allocation could unlock up to $700 billion in potential demand, bringing the mature market size close to that of current physically backed gold ETFs. According to the World Gold Council, the market capitalization of tokenized gold exceeded $4 billion in 2025, still a small percentage of the overall gold investment market. In the same year, gold ETFs attracted $89 billion in inflows, reaching a total managed scale of $559 billion. Gold ETFs already accounted for 16% of annual gold demand in 2025, further demonstrating the growth value of digital gold investment products. Mike Oswin, Global Head of Market Architecture and Innovation at the World Gold Council, stated that traditional financial institutions are gradually accepting asset tokenization, and the industry is reaching a critical inflection point. Currently, the retail custody gold and tokenized gold market is worth approximately $50-60 billion, while the entire retail gold investment market is estimated at $6-7 trillion, indicating vast growth potential.

Launching the "Gold as a Service" platform to create a shared foundation for the industry.

To propel digital gold into its next stage of development, the World Gold Council is building a "Gold as a Service" platform, connecting physical gold custody and warehousing, digital issuance, settlement, and redemption systems. This project does not intend to launch a new gold investment product, but rather to establish a shared infrastructure for banks, fintech companies, gold traders, and other institutions to independently develop digital gold products based on this underlying system. This shared platform can reduce the high upfront investment and operational complexity of developing digital gold products, improve market transparency and liquidity, and enhance investor trust. It also expands the application scenarios of gold, allowing it to be used as collateral, circulate among financial institutions, and be integrated into digital payment systems. Vincent Domien, Head of Precious Metals Trading at ICBC Standard Bank, stated that while gold has been a long-term holding for institutions, its physical nature makes it difficult to efficiently serve as collateral. Tokenization can significantly improve the efficiency of gold's use in the institutional market.

Balancing institutional and retail needs, exploring diverse incremental demands

Digital gold isn't just for institutional investors; it can also attract retail investors. James Willis, Global Head of Precious Metals Sales at HSBC, explained that since launching its digital gold token in Hong Kong, the bank has successfully reached many clients who weren't previously involved in traditional gold investment. Users value the convenience of online gold purchases and transfers. The World Gold Council believes that digital gold products, with their lower investment thresholds and convenient mobile trading, can attract younger investors. Even if investors don't intend to take physical delivery, they highly value the right to redeem the physical gold; clear auditing and reconciliation mechanisms are key to building market confidence. Leveraging digital infrastructure, investors can also use digital gold as collateral for financing, gaining liquidity while retaining ownership of the gold and revitalizing dormant gold assets.

The industry faces significant pain points, and innovation cannot deviate from the fundamental attributes of gold.

The current digital gold market suffers from significant fragmentation. Different platforms have varying custody rules, redemption terms, and regulatory standards, making cross-platform asset transfers difficult. Investors also worry about whether digital products adequately correspond to physical gold. Furthermore, developing such products often requires tens of millions of dollars in upfront investment, raising the barrier to entry. David Tait, CEO of the World Gold Council, stated that the gold industry is at a crossroads, needing to adapt to the digital financial ecosystem without abandoning its foundation in physical assets. This innovation is not intended to replace physical gold and existing gold investment categories, but rather to uncover new structural demands, allowing gold to play a greater role in the modern financial system.

Conclusion

Digital gold opens up a new growth curve for the gold market, and shared infrastructure solutions are expected to address pain points such as industry fragmentation and high costs. While retaining the core trust foundation of physical backing, digital gold will transform from a simple store of value into a flexible asset that is tradable, collateralizable, and compatible with digital systems, providing new support for gold demand in the long term.