The World Gold Council plans to pilot a digital version of gold in London with commercial participants in the first quarter of 2026. Branded as pooled gold interests (PGIs), each unit would represent fractional ownership of physical bullion and is intended to modernize trading in London’s approximately $900 billion gold market.
The pilot will involve major banks and trading houses as commercial participants to test whether a standardized digital layer can support broader financial products, faster settlement and easier transferability. World Gold Council CEO David Tait has said digitization is required for gold to reach new markets and for financial instruments used in other asset classes to be applied to gold going forward.
Gold’s recent performance underscores the timing: the metal climbed to a record above $3,550 per ounce after roughly doubling in price over two years, reinforcing its status as a safe-haven asset amid geopolitical tensions. Tokenized or digitally represented gold could lower barriers to exposure for institutions and retail investors who prefer not to hold physical bars.
That said, digitization brings trade-offs. Standardized digital wrappers can improve liquidity and product innovation, but they also raise important questions about custody, legal ownership, auditability and regulatory oversight. Market participants should consider how custody models, governance frameworks and compliance regimes will be designed before treating PGIs as direct substitutes for physical bullion.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.