SmartGold, a gold-backed individual retirement account (IRA) provider, has teamed up with tokenization platform Chintai Nexus to let U.S. retirement investors put IRA-held gold onto blockchain rails and earn yield via decentralized finance (DeFi). The setup tokenizes IRA gold 1:1 on Chintai’s regulated platform and allows it to serve as collateral on DeFi lending markets such as Morpho and Kamino, unlocking liquidity that can be reinvested while the underlying metal remains vaulted and insured. According to a press release shared with CoinDesk, the accounts’ tax-deferred status remains intact.
The offering aims to resolve a long-running trade-off for retirement savers: gold is a stable store of value but typically produces no income. Historically, IRS rules made it difficult to combine physical precious metals with yield strategies without creating tax or penalty exposure. SmartGold says the partnership turns a safe-haven asset into a productive tool for retirement portfolios.
The rollout covers SmartGold’s roughly $1.6 billion in vaulted assets, making it one of the largest tokenized-gold deployments and the first specifically designed for U.S. retirement accounts. The move also underscores growing institutional interest in tokenizing real-world assets — from commodities to funds and securities — to bring traditional capital onto blockchain rails.
Important risks remain: DeFi protocols bring smart-contract and platform risk, and the approach depends on custodial integrity and insurance coverage. Liquidity, counterparty exposure and potential future tax or regulatory changes could affect outcomes. Investors should consult tax and legal advisors before moving IRA assets into tokenized strategies.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.