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22 October 2026

Home / White Papers 2026

Digital gold: Unlocking a $700-billion opportunity

Foreword

By David Tait, Chief Executive Officer, WORLD GOLD COUNCIL

The appeal of gold has endured for thousands of years becausewhat it represents has not changed: a scarce, physical, trusted and  strategic asset, and a reliable store of value. However, as the financial world becomes increasingly digitalised, the gold market must adapt. Tokenisation and digital infrastructure will be the architectures through which a new global market will be built.

The World Gold Council was founded to sustain and strengthen trust and integrity in the gold market, and that mandate is why we are stepping into the digital gold market. We intend to launch Gold as a Service, a shared infrastructure to enable digital gold product issuance, because we are confident of the scale of the opportunity. This report reinforces that confidence with data and proof points drawn from a global consumer survey and in-depth conversations with industry experts.

We are also realistic about the scale of the task ahead, which includes challenges around trust, access, product utility and cost that have constrained market growth to date. There is much work to do, and no single institution can tackle everything alone. Indeed, building a liquid and trusted digital gold market will require the industry to embrace the same standards, and we are asking our peers and colleagues to work with us to bring that vision to life. Industrywide, open, and voluntary standards on transparency and investor protection could help build trust.

Regulatory clarity matters as much as any technical infrastructure. Where rules are unclear or inconsistent, digital products struggle to scale, even when demand is strong. Governments and regulators have a vital role to play, and we will continue to work with them to move the agenda forward.

Digital gold presents both investors and providers with a significant opportunity. What must come next is collaboration to ensure the growing market meets the needs of all those who want to take part.

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