jakiro
Author: Zhang Feng
As the oldest storage means of value in the history of human civilization, gold is reborn through blockchain technology.Gold RWA (Real World Asset) products convert physical gold into on-chain digital assets, becoming a bridge connecting traditional finance and the digital economy.
On September 12, Chow Fu Company announced that it will strategically invest in Hong Kong Gaoying Securities through its subsidiary, indirectly hold 15% of its equity, and plans to integrate resources such as cross-border payments, precious metals and capital markets, and jointly promote innovative businesses such as upgrading of virtual asset licenses and real assets (RWA) tokenization.This marks another traditional company officially deploying the Golden RWA track.
1. Meeting blockchain, traditional gold ushers in digital transformation
The traditional gold market has obvious pain points: low liquidity, high transaction costs, complex identification and custody, and difficulty in cross-border liquidity.The global gold market is as large as US$900 billion, but it is difficult to adapt to the needs of the digital finance era.Blockchain technology provides solutions to solve these pain points.By tokenizing physical gold, each token has corresponding physical gold support, realizing the separability, programmability and high liquidity of gold assets.
Since 2025, global leading institutions have laid out gold RWA.The World Gold Association plans to launch “Digital Gold”, aiming to build a new method of gold trading, settlement and mortgage.Taiwan Bank and eight national banks have launched an empirical gold tokenization plan, and are expected to complete preliminary results by the end of the year.
Second, the integration of three attributes to create a new paradigm for value storage in the digital era
The value logic of gold RWA is based on the multiple attributes of gold itself and the enhanced functions of blockchain technology.
Financial attributesOn the one hand, under global inflation expectations, digital gold has brought about changes in the trading ecosystem.Tokenized assets realize high-frequency trading of gold, greatly improving the liquidity of gold, and enhancing the “price discovery” ability beyond traditional trading.
Investment attributesIn terms of the matter, RWA can cut the trading units small enough through tokens to allow more small and medium-sized investors to participate in the investment.This has universal social value in the context of the era when residents prefer savings.
Physical attributesIn terms of the digital gold trading method, linking the value of physical gold with the price of virtual gold can make the wealth effect of the two types of gold a stable state without being disconnected from each other.
3. Multiple entities participate, and a two-layer architecture ensures compliance and efficiency
Currently, the issuance model of gold RWA on the market is mainly divided into several types:
Securities issuance model: Taking Hong Kong as an example, if the token is recognized as a securities token, it must be included in the Securities and Futures Ordinance supervision, and the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission’s licensed VASP provides issuance and trading services.
Stablecoin mode: For example, stablecoins anchored by gold such as PAXG, each token has physical gold support.
Dual token model: For example, Rand Link Gold uses the main token RGT to anchor each gram of physical gold entrusted in the licensed vault, and the supporting token RCT is used for ecological governance.
The “two-level architecture design” adopted by Taiwan Bank is quite representative: the interbank transaction accounts are cleared by alliance chain tokens, and the client still maintains trading with gold deposits.This design not only ensures efficient clearing between financial institutions, but also takes care of users’ traditional usage habits.Comparison of several major gold RWA issuance modes:
4. Multiple sources of income to build a sustainable business ecosystem
The profit model of gold RWA projects is characterized by diversification:
Management fee income: This is the most basic source of income.The project party charges a certain proportion of management fees for the custodial assets, usually between 0.5% and 2%.
Transaction fee: The platform charges handling fees for token transactions, especially cross-chain transactions and cross-border payment scenarios.
Ecological service income: For example, the Auricore project has obtained multiple benefits through the ecological closed loop of “mining rights NFT + gold stablecoin + ABG governance token + on-chain GameFi”.
Liquidity mining income: Some projects invest custodial gold into the DeFi protocol to obtain profits, providing users with additional returns.
Chow Sat Fook’s case shows how traditional companies can obtain new profit points through gold RWA.The ROE of its overseas stores is as high as 2-3 times in China. Through RWA’s innovative financing model, capital utilization rate doubles and cracks the growth curse.
5. Global regulation is becoming stricter, and compliance becomes a prerequisite for development
Gold RWA (real-world asset tokenization) issuance faces multiple compliance challenges, mainly including the following aspects:
Underlying asset risks:Physical gold must be clear and free of any rights defects (such as mortgage, judicial freeze or historical holding relationship), and must be custodianized by a voucher that complies with the London Gold and Silver Market Association (LBMA) standards.The source and purity of assets need to be strictly verified and regularly audited by third parties to ensure that the on-chain token corresponds to physical gold 1:1 and prevent “one gold and more selling”.
Token legal attribute recognition:The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission adopts the principle of “classified supervision”.If the token is recognized as a “security token”, it must be included in the Securities and Futures Ordinance supervision and must be issued and traded through a licensed virtual asset service provider (VASP).Before issuing, the legal nature of the token must be clarified, otherwise it may constitute an “illegal issuance of securities.”
Assets on and information disclosure:The technical solution on the chain must comply with regulatory requirements to ensure data security and clear on-chain rights mapping.The project party must conduct sufficient, true and timely information disclosure, including the details of underlying assets, risk factors and income mechanisms. Any false statement or concealment may lead to regulatory penalties and class action lawsuits.
Cross-border compliance and continuous operations:Due to the global circulation nature of gold, projects must comply with regulatory regulations of the issuance place, custody place and the investor’s country (such as FATF anti-money laundering rules, EU MiCA Act, etc.), and establish a complete KYC/AML process.
Compliance is a core requirement that is continuous and systematic throughout the project.Maintaining communication with regulatory agencies and using professional legal teams to conduct compliance design are the key prerequisites for the successful issuance of the gold RWA project.
6. Gold leads the trend and promotes the standardization of the entire industry
The development of gold RWA has brought multiple impacts to the entire RWA industry:
Gold becomes the best entry point for RWA: The gold value is stable, globally recognized, easy to identify and custodian, and is the most ideal underlying target for RWA.Compared with asset types such as real estate and artwork, gold is more standardized and easier to tokenize.
Promote the maturity of regulatory standards: One of the core requirements for Hong Kong’s regulatory regulations is that the issuance of virtual assets such as stablecoins must be anchored to “practical application scenarios”.Gold RWA provides a high-quality sample for regulation and promotes the maturity of the tube framework.
Promote technological progress: The gold RWA project has promoted many technological innovations, such as the empirical plan of Taiwan Bank to study the use of smart contracts to achieve a service model for cross-institutional tangible assets delivery.
Change the valuation logic of the company: The capital market’s pricing logic for enterprises is no longer limited to the growth of store count and jewelry sales, but is shifting to a “RWA ecological platform” that combines huge physical assets, scarce financial licenses and broad practical application scenarios.
Gold RWA not only changed the trading method of gold itself, but also created a new paradigm of “physical consumption + digital finance”.With the improvement of regulatory frameworks and technological advancements, gold RWA is expected to become an important part of global financial infrastructure.
