With a market capitalization of 6 billion dollars, tokenized gold is attracting investors. In Switzerland, companies such as MKS Pamp and Bity rely on a unique ecosystem to compete with global giants.

In an understated yet opulent building in Geneva’s Old Town, behind heavy doors, lies an ultra-secure vestibule followed by an entrance adorned with marble and noble materials. Welcome to MKS Pamp, a giant in gold trading and refining, whose former CEO, Marwan Shakarchi*, was one of six Swiss business leaders to meet Donald Trump in the Oval Office last November.

While the premises reflect the strength of a company that refines more than 450 tonnes of gold per year near Lugano, they also house a more dematerialized activity: gold tokenization, made possible through the acquisition of 100% of Gold Token’s share capital at the end of 2025.

Founded in 2019, the startup issues a blockchain token backed by gold, DGLD, which it aims to make available on several exchange platforms “before the end of the year,” according to CEO Kurt Hemecker. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, illustrates investors’ growing appetite for digital gold. Alongside the sharp rise in bullion prices (up 65% in 2025), the Gold 2.0 market recently reached historic highs, surpassing the $6 billion market capitalization mark for the first time in mid-February.

6 billion
In U.S. dollars, this is the total market capitalization of all tokenized gold tokens as of mid-February, far below that of the stablecoin market, which has surpassed $310 billion.

95%
Across the entire tokenized commodities market, this is the share held by the duopoly of Tether Gold (XAUt) and Pax Gold (PAXG).

Gold-backed tokens are Real World Assets (RWAs), meaning they represent ownership rights to tangible assets such as artworks, real estate, or precious metals. They rely on a gold reserve: one token generally promises the equivalent of one troy ounce (31.1 grams) of physical gold.

The basics of tokenized gold

The first tokenizations of precious metals date back to 2018, popularized by “investors seeking stable-value tokens after losing money during the crypto winter,” explains Romedi Ganzoni, a financial markets expert at the law firm MME. The year 2023 marked a turning point, with institutions such as BlackRock committing to the sector and, later, the emergence of the RWA label.

“Gold aficionados tend to be resistant to crypto, while crypto enthusiasts look down on gold. RWAs reconcile the two,” says Marco Ricca, founder of Swissgrams, a Zug-based startup whose token is set to launch by the end of the year.

These assets therefore combine gold’s historic safe-haven value with blockchain technology. Their major advantage is making the precious metal—often considered illiquid—“transferable at any time, divisible, and digitally traceable,” notes Sheraz Ahmed, founder of Storm Partners. Such benefits provide “a functional profile that physical bullion, or even ETFs, cannot offer,” adds Dominic Weibel, Head of Research at Bitcoin Suisse.

A Duopoly at the Top

This market is currently dominated by two players: the Salvadoran company Tether (XAUt) and the American firm Paxos (PAXG), in what ultimately resembles “a configuration quite close to the Tether–Circle stablecoin duopoly,” observes Dominic Weibel. However, with valuations that are “almost anecdotal” compared to the billions already circulating in dollar-backed cryptocurrencies, notes Marco Ricca.

Will Swiss competitors be able to claim a share of the pie? For Kurt Hemecker, this is not a market where “a single winner will take it all.” Nevertheless, many attempts have already failed, such as the Australian Perth Mint Gold Token, which was withdrawn from circulation in 2023 following multiple scandals.

In this regard, credibility in the underlying guarantees is essential. “Trust does not come from technology alone, but from its rigorous implementation,” summarizes Sheraz Ahmed. This implies “regular audits and the custody of physical gold by professional depositories,” explains Christophe Racine, Head of Development in Switzerland for the Canadian crypto investment giant 3iQ. The vaults are located in London for Paxos and in Switzerland for Tether.

Fertile Swiss Ground

Gold-backed RWAs are emerging in Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, among other regions. According to the entrepreneurs consulted, it would make sense for one of the tokens that ultimately prevails to be Swiss, “thanks to the country’s extensive experience in gold trading, as well as the presence of four of the world’s seven largest refiners,” notes Kurt Hemecker. “Switzerland accounts for nearly 80% of global gold refining,” adds Victor Gailly, Head of Business Development at Bity. The Neuchâtel-based crypto brokerage pioneer is shifting toward high-end services, including the tokenization of precious metals.

In addition to this legacy, Switzerland benefits from an ecosystem characterized by “low political risk and strong technical expertise,” according to Marco Ricca, as well as “close interaction between the financial sector, blockchain companies, and the academic environment,” says Heinz Tännler, President of the Swiss Blockchain Federation and Finance Director of the Canton of Zug. From a legal standpoint, the country has “one of the most advanced jurisdictions thanks to the DLT Act […] which provides a clear legal framework for the issuance and transfer of securities via a distributed ledger,” adds Raphael Pardini, partner at the wealth management firm Targa 5 Advisors.

Geneva, Neuchâtel, Zug

Several Swiss initiatives are emerging, many of them still in the structuring phase. The seven employees of Geneva-based Gold Token claim $8 million worth of tokens held by 4,000 investors, “an amount expected to grow,” according to Kurt Hemecker. Launched in 2019, the project migrated to Ethereum in 2022 before going on pause until its relaunch. “The previous team was ahead of the market,” explains the CEO, a former member of the Diem team (formerly Facebook’s Libra) and later director of the Mina Foundation. He adds that a platinum-backed token is currently under consideration.

In Neuchâtel, Bity — founded in 2014 and employing around fifteen people — is scaling up its gold tokenization activity through a collaboration with the nearby refiner Metalor and storage with cash-in-transit giant Loomis. Victor Gailly also announces an upcoming joint venture with the Origyn Foundation, which provides certification technology for real-world assets such as watches and jewelry. The same protocol is used by another player, Gold Dao, a Neuchâtel-based project that is in fact fully decentralized.

In Zug, Swissgrams is also preparing to enter the market after completing its initial funding round this summer. Also based in Zug, the crypto bank Amina (formerly Seba Bank) has been issuing a token since the end of 2021.

This landscape is complemented by Denario. Founded in 2021 in Aargau, the company claims the equivalent of $1.86 million in assets under management, and digital tokens backed not by bullion but by industrial metal granules.

Over the past decade, Sheraz Ahmed of Storm warns that he has seen many similar projects “that unfortunately did not survive.” For Raphael Pardini, the success of gold-backed RWAs will never materialize without solving “the bottleneck of a robust identity solution, essential for scaling.”

Why tokenized gold is shining brighter today
Demand for precious-metal-backed RWAs is all the stronger given that in 2025 there were greater returns to be made by betting on gold than on a large share of the crypto market. The debt of major nations, geopolitical uncertainty, and the erosion of trust in fiat currencies have placed bullion at the center of portfolios, for which tokenization represents a gateway. The validation of cryptoassets by financial institutions—and figures such as Larry Fink—has strengthened the segment’s credibility. Even UBS has entered the space with its UBS Key4 Gold product, launched at the end of January.