Written by Stephen Katte , Staff Writer.Reviewed by Felix Ng , Staff Editor.Singapore’s OCBC launches tokenized gold fund on Ethereum and Solana
Latest NewsPublishedApr 21, 2026
The value of tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains is estimated at more than $29 billion, up more than 10% in the last 30 days.
OCBC, one of Singapore’s largest banking and financial services corporations, has launched a tokenized physical gold fund, with the underlying token, GOLDX, issued on both Ethereum and Solana.
The launch was made together with its asset management arm, Lion Global Investors and digital asset exchange DigiFT. The token is aimed at institutional investors, hedge funds and asset managers and can be bought and sold using both stablecoins and fiat currencies. After subscription, the token is delivered directly to investors’ blockchain wallets, OCBC said on Monday.
Kenneth Lai, head of global markets at OCBC, said the move is part of a new corporate strategy and a milestone in the corporation’s blockchain-focused approach.
“We believe digital assets will play an increasingly important role in financial services and our focus is on bridging traditional finance with the emerging world of decentralized finance,” he said.
The value of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on public blockchains has been on the rise in 2026, and is sitting at over $29 billion, up over 10% in the last 30 days, according to data from rwa.xyz.
The value of tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains is estimated at $29 billion. Source: rwa.xyz
GOLDX token tied to a physical gold fund
OCBC’s GOLDX token offers on-chain exposure to the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund, which launched in December and had about $525 million (669 million Singapore dollars) in assets under management as of April 16, according to OCBC.
Related: Singapore Gulf Bank adds stablecoin mint and redeem for 24/7 settlement
The goal of the tokenized fund is to attract Web3 ecosystem participants and high-net-worth individuals who operate in blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems, according to OCBC.
Steven Hu, head of digital assets at OCBC, told Cointelegraph that gold is a go-to hedge in investment portfolios during crises but added, “Owning, moving and trading physical gold can be cumbersome.”
“We are tokenizing gold on a public chain, removing much of that friction. Investors shouldn’t need a vault or a huge bank account to own gold,” he said, adding that OCBC is “modernizing gold by taking the stability of the past and pairing it with the speed of the future.”
The GOLDX token is issued on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. Hu said OCBC chose public blockchains because they offer transparency and traceability for tokens and provide timely updates on the underlying asset.
OCBC has used blockchain technology before, starting with its first tokenized equity-linked note for accredited investors in 2023. Its total assets were estimated at about $526 billion as of December 2025.
Fund could pull conservative institutional capital onto blockchains
Taran Dhillon, head of digital assets at blockchain-based governance protocol Kula, told Cointelegraph that OCBC’s fund stands out because it tokenized shares of an existing, actively managed physical gold fund rather than raw gold bars or a spot exchange-traded fund.
“This places GOLDX firmly in contractual tokenization, where the on-chain transfer activates enforceable rights but completion of entitlement still depends on external legal and administrative processes,” he said.
“For the broader market, this is a strong positive; it will pull conservative institutional capital onto public blockchains without requiring them to accept atomic on-chain ownership of real-world assets while setting a pragmatic, compliant template others can follow,” Dhillon added.
The size of the tokenized RWA market has increased by more than 420% since the start of 2025.
Matthew Pinnock, chief operating officer at on-chain yield platform Altura DeFi, told Cointelegraph that large institutions are increasingly making it clear that tokenized RWAs are a priority area.
“We’re seeing interest in tokenized RWAs coming from a mix of crypto-native funds, hedge funds, family offices and increasingly traditional asset managers looking to access real-world exposure through blockchain rails,” he said.
“Crypto-native investors are using RWAs to diversify beyond purely digital assets while traditional players are drawn to the operational efficiencies as they provide faster settlement, improved transparency and the ability to access and distribute products more flexibly across markets.”
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