The digital gold market has tripled since the start of 2025 to as much as $55bn, according to the World Gold Council. The industry is courting younger investors, while the WGC expects further growth by 2031.
The value of the digital gold market has tripled since the start of 2025 to reach as high as $55bn, as the industry seeks to court younger investors with more easily traded forms of the bullion. The World Gold Council (WGC) put the market at about $45bn-$55bn in a survey of investors.
Market size and growth outlook
That range is equivalent to around 370 tonnes, or about 8% of global gold ETF holdings. The WGC said this was an increase of 2.5-3 times since the start of last year.
Looking ahead, the WGC said on Monday that it expects digital gold to grow by about 27% a year to up to $170bn by 2031 under its base-case scenario, as tokenization products increasingly enter the mainstream. More than 70 digital gold products have launched worldwide, the WGC added.
Investors have sought exposure to a metal that hit record highs at the start of this year before coming down about a fifth from its peak.
Younger investors and rival assets
A unit of digital gold can be bought to correspond to a fraction of real, physical gold stored by a third-party provider or mint. This differs from a gold exchange-traded product, in which the buyer holds shares in the fund.
The WGC has been attempting to bring digital gold to more investors. Some in the industry are concerned that rival assets, such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins pegged to traditional assets, are taking the attention of younger investors in particular. The WGC said younger investors have a high awareness of digital gold, which is often sold through social media apps, payment platforms and banking apps in China, India and Indonesia.
Trading volumes and Tether
Cumulative spot trading volumes in tokenised gold exceeded $90bn in the first quarter of 2026, more than in the whole of 2025, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.
Among gold-backed stablecoins, the largest being traded have reported strong growth since last year. In May, Tether's gold reserves were valued at $19.8bn at the end of March, and the market value of Tether Gold reached $3.3bn.
Source: FT
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