The World Gold Council has proposed a plan to develop a platform that aims to transform how gold operates within digital financial systems. This platform will link the custody of physical gold with digital systems used for issuing and managing tokenized gold products. It will standardize key market processes such as custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption, thereby “reducing operational complexity, improving accessibility, and enabling greater consistency across digital gold products,” according to the World Gold Council.
Key features of the new service include standardized issuance and management of tokenized gold, enhanced fungibility of digital gold, embedded audits and safeguards, interoperability with existing financial systems, and improved liquidity in lending markets.
According to CEO David Tait, gold must evolve to maintain its position in the global financial system.
He added, “Shared infrastructure can help gold become more accessible, more tradable, and fully integrated into modern financial systems, ensuring it remains as relevant in the future as it has been for millennia.”
He pointed out that gold, often seen as a static, immovable asset, can be used as margin and collateral through digitization, thereby generating profits for investors through a structure known as “pooled gold interest” (PGI).
The pilot for this initiative is anticipated to take place in Q1 2026.