The digital gold market could expand to $160 billion–$170 billion by 2031, according to an October 19 report from the World Gold Council and Boston Consulting Group. The researchers currently value the market at $45–55 billion, including tokenized gold and digital products backed by vaulted bullion, and their base case implies roughly 27% annual growth over the next five years.
The same report models a faster-growth scenario of $270–280 billion and estimates up to $700 billion in latent demand if barriers such as trust, access, usefulness and cost are removed. The authors stress that the $700 billion figure is not a forecast of investment flows; it represents potential demand under ideal conditions. The analysis covered more than 70 digital gold products and surveyed over 12,000 retail investors across 12 markets, with projections covering 96 countries representing 98% of global investable wealth.
Blockchain-based gold products are already showing momentum. Tokenized gold spot trading exceeded $90 billion in Q1 2026, surpassing the entire 2025 total of $84.6 billion according to CoinGecko data cited in the report. The value of tokenized gold outstanding is roughly $6 billion, around five times its late-2024 level. The World Gold Council estimates the physical investment gold market at about $13 trillion, meaning digital gold still represents less than 1% of that market.
Trust remains the leading requirement for adoption. Nearly nine in ten surveyed investors would consider digital gold under suitable conditions, but they want transparent proof of physical backing, consumer protections, clearer regulation and redemption ability. David Tait, chief executive of the World Gold Council, said: “Significant investor interest in digital gold is clear, but demand cannot scale without the right infrastructure behind it.” The organization is developing Gold as a Service, a shared infrastructure initiative for issuance, custody, sourcing and compliance.
Gold-backed tokens are also moving into lending and yield products. Tether Gold-backed borrowing on Aave reached a $25 million debt ceiling earlier in the year before capacity was raised; lender Arch introduced loans backed by PAX Gold and Tether Gold. In September, Paxos Labs launched PAXGy, a gold-backed token that accepts PAX Gold deposits and aims to generate returns through institutional gold leasing. Aave published a risk assessment in October examining PAXGy’s potential use in decentralized lending, including collateral limits and liquidity arrangements.
Traditional gold markets were softer on October 20, with spot gold around $4,120 an ounce as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s meeting, but the long-term digital gold projections suggest tokenized bullion products may attract a much larger share of investment demand.
