World Gold Council estimates digital gold market at $45–55 billion

Key Facts

The World Gold Council estimated the digital gold market at about $45–55 billion in its October 2026 report, which links market expansion to addressing barriers facing investors. Holdings covered by the estimate amount to about 370 tonnes of gold, split between gold held through platform accounts and tokenized gold. Gold held through platform accounts represents about 89% of the value, according to the council, making up the largest portion of the current market. Tokenized gold accounts for about 11% of the total value of digital gold covered by the report. The council's review identified more than 70 digital gold products worldwide.

In the tokenized gold segment, the council recorded an increase in value from $1.2 billion to $6 billion in the historical comparison it presented. Tether Gold and Paxos Gold together account for more than 90% of the public tokenized gold market, according to the report. The council said these products are already being used to generate yield and provide financial collateral, primarily on platforms originating in the cryptocurrency sector. The council based its digital gold market estimate on the combined assets under custody across products meeting its definition of this type of gold. The estimate also included holdings at some smaller entities, alongside the assets aggregated from the products.

On the investor side, Toluna conducted the consumer survey used in the research across 12 markets, according to the World Gold Council. More than 12,000 people took part in the survey to study investors and potential demand for digital gold products. Awareness of these products stood at 50% among participants aged between 25 and 34, according to the results cited by the council. By comparison, awareness stood at 23% among those aged 55 and above in the same comparison of the 2 age groups. The council's research indicates that about 65% of expected new demand will come from investors entering the gold market for the first time.

Trust tops investors' considerations, with about 4 out of every 5 investors prioritizing trust in the provider before investing, according to the council. The report summarized the barriers to expansion as "trust, access, utility and cost," linking efforts to address these factors to converting interest in the products into investment. More than 40% of respondents said a major custody failure, fraud or hack would damage their confidence. On infrastructure, the World Gold Council is putting forward a "Gold as a Service" platform to connect physical gold custody with the digital systems used to issue and manage products backed by it. It also identified the inclusion of digital gold in major banks' apps as a key indicator it recommends monitoring to gauge the spread of these products.

Looking at the market outlook, the World Gold Council's base case projects a compound annual growth rate of about 27% through 2031. This scenario puts the digital gold market's value at $160–170 billion by that year, according to the council's estimates. The council includes money shifting between gold products, alongside money entering the market, in its demand estimate. After accounting for these shifts, the base case estimates net additional demand at about $95 billion by 2031. The council described this amount as "genuinely new demand" in its estimate of what digital gold products could add to demand.

The council's other scenarios link the market's size by 2031 to the pace at which barriers to digital gold adoption are removed. In the optimistic scenario, the market's value reaches a range of $270–280 billion, according to the report's estimates. The council says this path requires faster removal of barriers involving trust, access, utility and cost, allowing interest to translate into investment. The pessimistic scenario puts the market's value at $70–80 billion by 2031, according to the same estimates. This path is associated with barriers remaining largely unaddressed, compared with the optimistic path, which assumes faster progress in removing them.