OCBC and partners launch South-east Asia’s first on-chain tokenised physical gold fund 

[SINGAPORE] OCBC, its asset management arm Lion Global Investors, and digital asset exchange DigiFT on Monday (Apr 20) announced the launch of South-east Asia’s first tokenised physical gold fund available on a public blockchain.

The OCBC-LionGlobal Physical Gold Fund Token, or GoldX token, provides exposure to the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund.

As at Thursday (Apr 16), the fund had accumulated S$669.4 million in assets under management since its inception in December 2025.

The GoldX token will be issued on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, which are decentralised digital ledgers.

Kenneth Lai, head of global markets at OCBC, said: “By bringing real-world assets on-chain… we aim to enable stablecoin capital to be invested in these assets while maintaining the standards and safeguards expected by investors.”

Meanwhile, Henry Zhang, founder and group chief executive officer of DigiFT, noted that tokenised access supports investors who want “institutional-grade exposure delivered in a way that integrates with modern digital custody, settlement, and portfolio workflows”.

This contributes to a more open and interoperable financial system, added Zhang.

How the GoldX token works

The tokenisation of real-world assets such as gold involves converting ownership rights into digital tokens on a blockchain.

On the blockchain, fractions of these assets can be bought and sold. For gold, this increases its accessibility by enabling fractional ownership and use in decentralised finance.

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OCBC noted that through the DigiFT platform, institutional and corporate accredited investors will be able to subscribe to the GoldX token using stablecoins or fiat currencies.

The GoldX token will then be delivered directly to investors’ blockchain wallets and can be redeemed for stablecoin or fiat currencies, added the bank.

The launch comes amid a growth in demand for tokenised real-world assets.

Data from analytics platform Allium shows that the market for tokenised real-world assets grew nearly 10 times between January 2024 and January 2026, to surpass US$18.23 billion.

OCBC and its partners expect strong demand from Web3 ecosystem participants – those who operate within decentralised, blockchain-based environments. The bank cited family offices and high-net-worth individuals as examples.

“These ecosystem participants hold significant capital in stablecoins in Asia, much of it currently sitting idle,” noted OCBC.

Lai added: “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 decentralised finance.”