Digital gold could unlock $700 billion in investor demand: World Gold Council

The digital gold market could attract up to $700 billion in latent demand, but the industry must first build investor trust, expand access and address barriers around product utility and pricing, according to a new World Gold Council report. Digital gold, including vaulted and tokenized products, has reached an estimated $45 billion to $55 billion, or less than 1% of the $13 trillion physical gold investment market. The findings are based on a survey of more than 12,000 retail investors globally and interviews with 20 experts. Nearly 90% of respondents said they would be willing to invest in digital gold if the right conditions were met. According to the report, tokenized gold products, led by Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG), a token backed by London Good Delivery bars, generated $90 billion in cumulative spot trading volume during the first quarter of 2026 alone. That exceeded the total for all of 2025. Daily volumes across the two largest tokens climbed roughly 45% year-over-year. Tokenized gold has expanded fivefold since late 2024, from $1.2 billion to $6 billion in value outstanding. Four barriers The report identifies four barriers, ranked by importance: trust, acces...