A (r)evolution is coming to the gold market – the precious metal is becoming increasingly digital

A great revolution is coming to the gold market. In fact, it's already underway, but little is being said or written about it in Poland. Gold will become increasingly digital, and the World Gold Council is helping to achieve this. This will make trading in particles of the digital metal increasingly easier and safer, which will positively impact gold prices, and perhaps... strike gold. bitcoin quotesWhat exactly is this about? We explain.

In this article you will learn:

• Who is creating a new ecosystem for wholesale gold trading?
• What does its revolutionary nature consist in?
• How will gold become increasingly digital?
• How can gold tokenization affect the price of the metal?
• What does the physical and paper gold market look like?

Gold is rising in price like crazy – this year by almost 40%, and in three years by almost 3%. It's worth having the King of Metals on your side in your wallet – it's a truism, a truth known for centuries. You can store them in it physical form, in the form of coins and bars, and this solution is preferred by cautious traditionalists often called "gold bugs". However, for many years it has been possible to invest in "paper" gold – in the form of participation units of investment funds investing in gold, or in the form of CFD contracts (for exchange rate differences), and recently also in tokens or coins of cryptocurrencies based on gold.

However, a major change is coming to the paper gold market, thanks to the World Gold Council (WGC) itself – an international association of the largest gold mining companies. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in London.

Well, the World Gold Council is preparing a service that could significantly change the gold market. Or rather, it's the entire ecosystem for wholesale gold trading, which will make investing in "paper" gold more reliable, safer, and the liquidity of its trading will increase. Gold will become more digital, which may begin to threaten Bitcoin, which is called "digital gold".

Investing in digital gold bar particles becomes possible

The service in question is Wholesale Digital Gold – is one of the three pillars of the program Gold247, a WGC initiative aimed at digitizing the gold supply chain and market infrastructure. Wholesale Digital Gold is introducing an innovative solution called Pooled Gold Interests (PGI), which enables the digital representation of physical gold stored in vaults. In simple terms: each bar is numbered, recorded on the blockchain and when an investor purchases gold through, for example, a fund, individual bars or parts of them are assigned to himThe Gold247 program also includes the Gold Bar Integrity service (tracking bars using blockchain technology, a chain of digital blocks) and the Standard Gold Unit tool (standardization of the digital representation of gold bars).

Why should this concern an ordinary Joe who wants to invest in gold, or a CFD trader? It's complicated, but we'll try to explain it in a moment. Just think for a moment about what a token is and what is tokenizationto understand that there is a lot going on on the Internet digital revolution in investing. Asset tokenization is the process of creating digital representation of the actual asset on a distributed ledger (or blockchain). Tokens are programmable, traceable, and can be transferred in peer-to-peer transactions (from user to user, without intermediaries). Each token acts as a digital certificate of ownership or claim to a portion of a given asset. That is, instead of buying an entire gold bar or an entire commercial building, investors can purchase fractions (particles) of these assets in the form of tokens.

How the digital revolution is progressing in the gold market

“Digital” gold is nothing new. However, joint initiative WGC, Linklaters and Hilltop Walk Consulting's Wholesale Digital Gold initiative could be a truly groundbreaking concept that will improve the way gold is owned, traded and used – a report on it can be found here HEREThis is actually the whole an innovative gold trading ecosystem, bringing the world of physical and "paper" gold closer together. The solution called Pooled Gold Interests (PGI) enables partial ownership of bars held by institutional custodians, wider use of gold as collateral and safe transfer of rights to the bullion between the parties to the transaction.

The PGI solution is based on the work of the Financial Markets Standards Board and consultations with precious metals industry participants. It aims to reduce the operational complexity of so-called allocated accounts (bars assigned to the owner), and the elimination of credit risk associated with owning unallocated gold The point is that currently, investors buy gold through an investment company, but no bars are assigned to them, so they actually bear the risk of the custodian (who, after all, can fail, like any business). Linklaters has designed the legal structure governing the operation of PGI, ensuring beneficial ownership of the gold held in custody, as assured by the World Gold Council.

Let us emphasize once again that under the Pooled Gold Interests solution, investors can own fractional shares in the pool of physical gold bars (e.g. fractions of an ounce)This gives you great flexibility, and the PGI tool provides protection against depositary credit risk, enabling easy and secure transfer of shares between partiesThis service bridges the gap between traditional settlement methods in the paper gold market: allocated gold (i.e., single, physical, numbered bars assigned to an owner) and unallocated gold (exposure to a financial institution with credit risk).

This solution is being created under the aegis of WGC increases the liquidity of the gold market and makes it easier to use bullion as collateral (collateral), and enables investing small amounts, which opens the market of "paper" gold, e.g. to a wider group of small institutional participants (small businesses). As Mike Oswin, Head of Market and Innovation at WGC, admits, the Wholesale Digital Gold ecosystem will strengthen London's central role as a gold trading point.

"London is home to one of the world's largest wholesale gold markets – the Loco LondonThis market operates based on standards set by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and operates 2025 hours a day. At the end of June 8, the volume of gold on the Loco London market amounted to 776 tons worth USD 927,5 billion, which corresponds to approximately 702 gold bars. This market operates in the OTC (Over-the-Counter) system, which means that transactions are concluded bilaterally between participants market, without the participation of a centralized exchange. The Loco London market is the largest and most liquid OTC gold market in the world, accounting for 51% of global notional gold trading volume in 2024," the WGC report reads.

The emerging ecosystem for wholesale digital gold trading – as WGC experts explain – is not just about digitizing gold. It is also about increasing market efficiency, deepening trust in legal and digital security and the development of the British financial market.

“Given other significant technological advancements in financial markets (including DLT, blockchain, and smart contracts), there is no doubt that the ecosystem being built could introduce a significant change in how gold can be used as collateral and make transactions much easier.” – explain WGC experts.

What effects could the Wholesale Digital Gold ecosystem have on the gold market? It's safe to say it will contribute to increasing the valuation of the bullion, not reductions. Certainly the more common fractional (partial) property will lower the entry barrier, potentially increasing demand for gold by at least a dozen or so percent, especially in the institutional segment. Easier transfer of "paper" gold will reduce transaction costs i will increase the liquidity of the wholesale market, which may be crucial in the context of de-dollarization. And integration with DLT (blockchain) will provide greater transparency, making gold more attractive compared to cryptocurrencies. Who knows, maybe popularity will decline Bitcoin, and capital will be even more eager to move towards the yellow metal?

How much physical gold is there and how much "paper" gold is there?

The gold market is a key element of the global financial system, acting as a "safe haven" during periods of economic (inflation) and geopolitical uncertainty. In 2025, the price of gold reached new records, exceeding $3 per troy ounce. This market can be divided into physical segment (direct possession of metal in the form of bars or coins) and paper (CFD derivatives, ETFs, tokens).

In the first quarter of 2025, gold demand reached a record 1 tons, up 206% year-on-year. In the second quarter, it rose 1% year-on-year, and estimates suggest annual demand could exceed 3 tons. Gold buyers include mainly central banks and investors, but also industry, including jewelers. At an average price of $4/oz in September 800, annual demand can be estimated at approximately $3 billion.

What does it look like in individual segments? ETF assets investing funds in gold amounted to approximately USD 407 billion in August 2025. There is no precise data for CFD on gold, but it is estimated that this segment amounts to approximately USD 100-200 billion per year in transactions, which, however, are usually not fully settled (no purchase/sale transaction of physical gold is carried out). Gold tokens – digital representations of gold on the blockchain – are fledgling digital gold, estimated to have reached a minimum of $2,6 billion in August after growing by approximately 260% in 12 months. The gold token market leaders are Tether Gold (XAUT – $1,3 billion in assets) and Paxos Gold (PAXG – $1 billion in assets).

Tokenization of investment assets – opportunities and threats

So, digitalization or tokenization of raw materials – and above all, precious metals – this could be a new, extremely important trend for the investment world. And it will likely have a positive, rather than negative, impact on the price of gold. New solutions for investors will likely emerge, based on increasingly digital gold, which we don't even think about now because they're difficult to imagine.

"Financial markets are evolving to meet growing demands for speed, efficiency, and connectivity. Among the forces driving this transformation are the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenization—innovations that have the potential to offer faster transactions, greater efficiency, and transparency across asset classes. Tokenization of financial assets is the next phase." exchange of values in the banking sector and capital markets, […] driving a new era of public-private cooperation” – say experts from the World Economic Forum and Accenture in report "Asset Tokenization in Financial Markets"However, they emphasize that tokenization is currently in its infancy and will likely be a multi-year evolution, not a revolution.

In 2025 year the value of tokenized real-world investment assets reached a value of USD 24 billion, after growing by 308% in three years, according to CoinLaw. According to the boldest estimates, by 2030 the token market could be worth around USD 13 trillion. Of course gold leads the race to tokenization, and behind it at a considerable distance there is crude oil - reports CoinLaw.

In a recently published report, Bank of America stated that tokenization is the next big step in the development of the financial market, especially in the storage of financial assets. It offers advantages over existing traditional assets, but also carries risks. According to the bank's analysts, this model could change the way investors obtain information. access to assets and manage them (fractional ownership! total transparency!), and increased liquidity and 24/7 trading could open secondary markets for previously illiquid private assets, BoA analysts led by Craig Siegenthaler point out. Furthermore, tokenization could significantly reduce investment costs (reducing fees by eliminating intermediaries), and smart contracts can automate key processes such as dividend payments.

Still, Bank of America warned that tokenization must overcome many hurdles before it can be widely adopted. The biggest challenge is regulatory uncertainty (although many regulators have signaled support for tokenization, including the US regulator during Trump's term). Another problem is token storage Investors risk losing access to their assets if their private keys are lost, and institutional-grade storage solutions are still in development. Furthermore, the integration of tokens with traditional financial infrastructure is still in its infancy.