DBS to offer tokenised physical gold to retail customers

SINGAPORE - DBS Group, Singapore's biggest bank by assets, said on Thursday (June 11) it will offer tokenised physical gold to retail customers as demand for the precious metal grows and the city-state pushes to become a gold trading hub.

The rollout comes as gold remains in demand as a store of value despite recent price swings. Gold prices touched a record high of US$5,600 an ounce this year amid concerns over inflation, geopolitical tensions and market volatility, but spot gold fell to US$4,111.95 on Wednesday, its lowest since March 23 and down 27 per cent from that peak.

DBS, which is also Southeast Asia's biggest bank, said in a statement that DBS Physical Gold Tokens will be available through its digibank app in the second half of 2026.

It said the offering would be the first in Singapore to let retail customers digitally access, hold and trade tokenised physical gold through a single platform.

Tokenisation refers to turning ownership of a real asset into a digital token that can be traded electronically.

Each token will be backed by one gram of physical gold held by DBS in a dedicated vault in Singapore. A gram of gold is worth about S$200 as of Thursday.

Customers will be able to buy smaller amounts of gold, trade around the clock and redeem tokens for physical gold, DBS said.

"Gold as an asset class has taken off in recent years," said James Tan, the bank's group head of investment products and advisory services, adding that tokenisation would allow more retail customers to invest in gold.

DBS said it was exploring plans to list the token on its DBS Digital Exchange for accredited investors and institutional partners.

Physical gold holdings among DBS wealth clients have more than doubled over the past three years, DBS said.

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