# Tokenized Gold Market: WGC's Bold $5 Billion Push
The World Gold Council (WGC) wants to build shared infrastructure for digital bullion because tokenized gold is growing fast, but the systems behind it remain fragmented. In a white paper published on Thursday with Boston Consulting Group, the WGC said standardizing custody, reconciliation, compliance and redemption could help support the next phase of a tokenized gold market now approaching the $5 billion mark.
Industry data shows tokenized gold market capitalization jumped 177% in 2025, rising from roughly $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion last year. That surge highlights strong investor interest in digital gold, even as physical gold remains one of the top-performing assets during a volatile period for precious metals.
What did the World Gold Council announce about the tokenized gold market?
The World Gold Council announced a plan to build shared infrastructure for digital gold products. The goal is to make gold-backed tokenization more scalable, more trustworthy and easier to integrate into modern financial systems.
On Thursday, the WGC and Boston Consulting Group released a white paper titled Digital Gold: The Case for a Shared Infrastructure. The paper lays out a "Gold as a Service" model, which would act as an open platform linking physical gold custody with the digital systems used to issue and manage gold-backed products.
The proposal focuses on four operational bottlenecks that have slowed digital gold adoption: custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance and redemption. According to the WGC, these functions have not been standardized across providers, which has limited interoperability and growth.
For investors tracking the gold price, bullion markets and XAUUSD-linked investment products, the message is clear: the WGC wants gold to remain relevant as finance becomes more digital.
Why is the tokenized gold market growing so quickly?
The tokenized gold market is growing quickly because investor demand for digital access to gold has surged. Industry data shows the sector's market capitalization rose 177% in 2025, expanding from about $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion last year.
That growth came even amid recent volatility in precious metals markets. The source article notes that gold has still been one of the top-performing assets, which helps explain why interest in gold-backed digital products has accelerated.
Tokenized gold appeals to investors who want exposure to bullion without directly handling bars or coins. In practice, it offers a digital claim on physical gold, often measured against familiar benchmarks such as the spot gold price per troy ounce.
For Indian investors, this trend matters because digital access can complement traditional buying routes such as jewellery, coins, bars, ETFs and sovereign gold bonds. If infrastructure improves globally, Indian platforms could eventually benefit from more reliable gold-backed issuance and smoother redemption standards, although the WGC announcement did not provide India-specific rollout details.
What problems are holding back digital gold adoption?
The biggest problem is fragmentation. According to Mike Oswin, Global Head of Market Structure and Innovation at the WGC, providers are repeatedly rebuilding the same complex systems instead of relying on common infrastructure.
Oswin said, "Digital gold has evolved quickly, but the infrastructure supporting it hasn't kept pace." He added that the current ecosystem is fragmented, with each provider effectively rebuilding the same complex processes, creating inefficiencies and limiting growth.
Why is digitizing gold harder than digitizing other assets?
Digitizing gold is harder because gold is a physical asset. Any digital token still depends on real-world custody, insurance, legal title and redemption rights.
Oswin said many developers build platforms quickly, but many ultimately fail because the physical market is difficult to understand and navigate. He specifically pointed to the complexity of securing agreements around liquidity, custody in a vault, insurance, legal title and the legal structures needed to guarantee investors full ownership of the physical gold.
Which operational gaps did the WGC identify?
The WGC identified several gaps that limit scale and trust across the digital bullion market:
- custody coordination
- reconciliation
- compliance
- redemption
- liquidity arrangements
- legal title and investor protections
How would the proposed "Gold as a Service" model work?
The proposed model would create a common foundation for issuing and managing digital gold. It would standardize the legal and operational plumbing that sits between physical bullion and digital platforms.
According to the white paper, the "Gold as a Service" platform would connect physical gold custody with digital issuance systems. The WGC says this shared layer could embed continuous reconciliation, auditability and standardized legal frameworks into the process.
What benefits does the WGC expect from shared infrastructure?
The WGC expects shared infrastructure to improve trust, interoperability and fungibility. In simple terms, gold-backed products could become easier to verify, easier to move and easier to use across platforms.
Oswin said one major benefit is that gold could evolve from a static store of value into a more dynamic financial asset. If digital gold issuance and transfer become standardized, gold could be used more easily as collateral, integrated into lending markets and moved more seamlessly across financial platforms.
That matters for the broader gold market because deeper utility can attract more participation from financial institutions, technology firms and investors. It could also support wider adoption of tokenized bullion products alongside traditional precious metals holdings.
Why does this matter for gold investors in India?
This matters for Indian investors because better tokenized gold infrastructure could expand access to gold in digital form while reinforcing trust around ownership and redemption. India is one of the world's largest gold-consuming markets, so changes in global bullion market plumbing can eventually shape local product availability and investor behavior.
Indian investors already use multiple gold channels, including physical bullion, jewellery, ETFs and app-based digital gold products. A more standardized global framework could make gold-backed digital offerings easier to compare and potentially safer to scale, especially if custody, auditability and redemption become clearer.
Does the WGC announcement change the INR gold price today?
No, the WGC announcement does not directly change the INR gold price today. The article does not cite any rupee-denominated price move, domestic premium shift or immediate impact on Indian spot bullion rates.
However, the development is still relevant for India because stronger global infrastructure can influence how gold products are packaged and distributed over time. For investors watching both XAUUSD and domestic gold rates, the longer-term implication is that digital access to precious metals may become more institutionalized.
What did Mike Oswin say about gold's future in digital finance?
Mike Oswin said gold must evolve with financial markets without losing its core identity. His argument is that digital systems are changing rapidly, and gold needs infrastructure that preserves trust, liquidity and stability in that environment.
Oswin said, "Financial systems are evolving quickly, and gold needs to evolve with them." He added that the initiative is not about changing what gold is, but about ensuring that gold's core attributes can exist in a digital environment.
That position is important for investors because it frames tokenized gold as an extension of the bullion market, not a replacement for physical gold. The WGC is trying to make digital gold credible by anchoring it more tightly to the underlying physical asset.
What happens next for the tokenized gold market?
The next step is industry collaboration. The WGC is calling on market participants, technology firms and financial institutions to help develop the shared infrastructure laid out in the white paper.
That means the next phase of tokenized gold growth may depend as much on cooperation as on innovation. If the market can align around common standards, the sector could move beyond its current fragmented structure and unlock broader use cases for gold-backed assets.
For Indian investors, the key watchpoint is whether this initiative leads to real-world products with stronger custody standards, clearer legal title and easier redemption. If it does, tokenized gold could become a more credible complement to physical bullion and other gold investment routes as the global market moves further into digital finance.
