Overview of the Digital Gold Study and Market Position
- A World Gold Council (WGC) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study surveyed over 12,000 retail investors across 12 countries and interviewed 20 experts between July and October 2026 (p. 2).
- The physical investment gold market is estimated at $13Tn ($4,000/ounce equivalent to just over 100,000t), whereas digital gold accounts for $45–55Bn (p. 2).
- Addressing main barriers could allow latent demand for digital gold to reach $700 billion, equivalent to over 5,400t compared to current ETF holdings of 4,271t (p. 2).
Key Progress and Market Adoption
- Tokenised gold generated $90 billion of cumulative spot trading volume in Q1 2026 (more than in all of 2025), representing <=0.5% of Loco London LBMA spot turnover of $16Tn (p. 2).
- Asian markets lead in distribution via super-apps and payment apps, with over 120 million customers in India and 5 million in Indonesia making digital gold transactions (p. 2).
  - Awareness is highest in Indonesia (76%) and India (71%), compared to 26–29% in the UK and US (p. 2).
- Product innovations include Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) used on Aave, and Paxos Labs' PAXGy generating yield via institutional gold lending (p. 2).
Role in the Gold Ecosystem and Demographics
- Digital gold serves as a complement rather than a competitor to physical bars, coins, or ETFs (p. 4).
  - Roughly 65% of latent demand originates from non-gold holders, and over half of existing gold holders would use funds not currently allocated to gold (p. 4).
- The product attracts younger demographics, showing 50% awareness among 25–34-year-olds versus 23% among those aged 55+ (p. 4).
  - 73% of 25–34-year-olds express willingness to invest once barriers are removed, compared to 28% of those aged 65+ (p. 4).
Adoption Barriers and Required Solutions
- Resolving all four key barriers could increase participation by 13% and portfolio allocations by 2.5% (p. 4):
  - Trust: Regulatory-style consumer protection (+5.1pp participation) and a guaranteed physical redemption route (+2.1pp) (p. 4).
  - Utility: Yield or income generation (+2.5pp), payments functionality (+1.5pp), and collateral usage (+0.8pp) (p. 4).
  - Cost: Competitive pricing relative to physical gold and ETFs (+0.6pp) (p. 4).
  - Access: Distribution through familiar banking and app channels (+0.4pp) (p. 4).
Benefits, Market Outlook, and Projections
- Provides investors lower minimum purchases and yield opportunities, which HSBC's Daragh Maher notes undermines the main argument against holding non-income gold (p. 5).
- The next five years are critical for scaling digital gold through collaboration across the industry, regulators, and distributors (p. 5).
- Market size projections (listed by 2021 in report):
  - Base case (~27% growth per annum): $160 - 170Bn (p. 5).
  - Bull case: $270 - 280Bn (p. 5).
  - Bear case: $70 - 80Bn (p. 5).
- Expanding physical redemption locations and lowering minimum thresholds are essential for building consumer trust (p. 5).

Overview of the Digital Gold Study and Market Position
- A World Gold Council (WGC) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study surveyed over 12,000 retail investors across 12 countries and interviewed 20 experts between July and October 2026 (p. 2).
- The physical investment gold market is estimated at $13Tn ($4,000/ounce equivalent to just over 100,000t), whereas digital gold accounts for $45–55Bn (p. 2).
- Addressing main barriers could allow latent demand for digital gold to reach $700 billion, equivalent to over 5,400t compared to current ETF holdings of 4,271t (p. 2).
Key Progress and Market Adoption
- Tokenised gold generated $90 billion of cumulative spot trading volume in Q1 2026 (more than in all of 2025), representing <=0.5% of Loco London LBMA spot turnover of $16Tn (p. 2).
- Asian markets lead in distribution via super-apps and payment apps, with over 120 million customers in India and 5 million in Indonesia making digital gold transactions (p. 2).
  - Awareness is highest in Indonesia (76%) and India (71%), compared to 26–29% in the UK and US (p. 2).
- Product innovations include Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) used on Aave, and Paxos Labs' PAXGy generating yield via institutional gold lending (p. 2).
Role in the Gold Ecosystem and Demographics
- Digital gold serves as a complement rather than a competitor to physical bars, coins, or ETFs (p. 4).
  - Roughly 65% of latent demand originates from non-gold holders, and over half of existing gold holders would use funds not currently allocated to gold (p. 4).
- The product attracts younger demographics, showing 50% awareness among 25–34-year-olds versus 23% among those aged 55+ (p. 4).
  - 73% of 25–34-year-olds express willingness to invest once barriers are removed, compared to 28% of those aged 65+ (p. 4).
Adoption Barriers and Required Solutions
- Resolving all four key barriers could increase participation by 13% and portfolio allocations by 2.5% (p. 4):
  - Trust: Regulatory-style consumer protection (+5.1pp participation) and a guaranteed physical redemption route (+2.1pp) (p. 4).
  - Utility: Yield or income generation (+2.5pp), payments functionality (+1.5pp), and collateral usage (+0.8pp) (p. 4).
  - Cost: Competitive pricing relative to physical gold and ETFs (+0.6pp) (p. 4).
  - Access: Distribution through familiar banking and app channels (+0.4pp) (p. 4).
Benefits, Market Outlook, and Projections
- Provides investors lower minimum purchases and yield opportunities, which HSBC's Daragh Maher notes undermines the main argument against holding non-income gold (p. 5).
- The next five years are critical for scaling digital gold through collaboration across the industry, regulators, and distributors (p. 5).
- Market size projections (listed by 2021 in report):
  - Base case (~27% growth per annum): $160 - 170Bn (p. 5).
  - Bull case: $270 - 280Bn (p. 5).
  - Bear case: $70 - 80Bn (p. 5).
- Expanding physical redemption locations and lowering minimum thresholds are essential for building consumer trust (p. 5).

Gold tokenisation; World Gold Council / Boston Consulting Group extensive survey; we pull out the key points

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Gold tokenisation; World Gold Council / Boston Consulting Group extensive survey; we pull out the key points

Interactive reader

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