DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, will let retail customers buy and trade tokenized gold through its digibank app starting in the second half of 2026. Each DBS Physical Gold Token is backed by one gram of physical gold stored in a dedicated DBS vault in Singapore, the bank said in a June 11 announcement reported by CoinDesk. Tokenized gold is a digital token recorded on a blockchain that represents ownership of a set amount of physical gold held in a vault. The product moves bullion ownership, long reserved for DBS wealth clients and institutions, into a mobile banking app used by millions of everyday customers, who will be able to buy small amounts, trade at any hour, and redeem tokens for physical gold.
- DBS Physical Gold Tokens launch on the digibank app in the second half of 2026, with each token backed by one gram of gold held in a dedicated DBS vault in Singapore.
- DBS will tokenize, issue, distribute and manage the tokens entirely in-house, and is weighing a later listing on its DBS Digital Exchange for accredited and institutional investors.
- Physical gold holdings among DBS wealth clients have more than doubled over the past three years.
- Rival OCBC launched GOLDX, an institutional tokenized gold fund token, in April 2026. The fund behind it held about S$669.4 million (US$525.9 million) in assets by mid-April.
Published: June 11, 2026, 16:30 UTC
What DBS announced
DBS will be the first major Singapore bank to put tokenized physical gold directly in the hands of retail customers. The product, called DBS Physical Gold Tokens, will sit inside digibank, the bank’s consumer app, according to Reuters coverage on Yahoo Finance.
The bank says it will handle the entire chain itself: tokenizing the gold, issuing the tokens, distributing them and managing them on bank-grade infrastructure. DBS is also evaluating a listing on the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx), its venue for accredited investors and institutions.
“While our retail investors have been able to buy gold funds, access to physical gold has been largely available to only institutional and accredited investors,” said James Tan, head of investment products and advisory at DBS. The bank has offered physical gold to wealth clients since 2013 and frames the token as a way to open that access to a much wider customer base.
Why banks are racing to tokenize gold
Gold demand and tokenization are converging inside Singapore’s two biggest banks at the same time. The World Gold Council found that demand for gold bars in the first quarter of 2026 ran 50% higher than a year earlier, and DBS says physical gold holdings among its wealthy clients have more than doubled in three years.
OCBC, Singapore’s second-largest bank, moved first on the institutional side. In April it launched the GOLDX token with Lion Global Investors and DigiFT, the first tokenized physical gold fund in Southeast Asia issued on public blockchains, Ethereum and Solana. GOLDX is restricted to institutions and accredited investors. DBS is aiming at the customers OCBC left out.
DBS is not starting from zero. In 2025 the bank tokenized structured notes on Ethereum and listed sgBENJI, the token of Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund, alongside Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. US banking giants are working the same theme: a group of the largest American banks is planning a shared tokenized deposit network.
What it means for tokenized real-world assets
A retail gold token from Southeast Asia’s largest bank pushes real-world asset tokenization past its institutional niche. Until now, most bank-issued tokenized products, from Securitize’s tokenized funds to OCBC’s GOLDX, have been built for professional money. A gold token inside a consumer banking app is a test of whether ordinary customers actually want blockchain-wrapped assets.
The design choice to keep everything in-house also matters. OCBC issued GOLDX on public blockchains through an external platform, while DBS is keeping issuance, custody and distribution inside the bank. The two models will compete on trust, cost and convenience, and the outcome will shape how other Asian banks structure tokenized versions of traditional assets.
The next markers to watch: the exact launch date in the second half of 2026, pricing and minimum purchase sizes, and whether DBS follows through on a DDEx listing that would put the same token in front of institutions.
Frequently asked questions
What are DBS Physical Gold Tokens?
They are digital tokens issued by DBS Bank, each backed by one gram of physical gold stored in a dedicated DBS vault in Singapore. Retail customers will be able to buy, trade and redeem them through the digibank app starting in the second half of 2026.
How is this different from OCBC’s GOLDX?
GOLDX, launched in April 2026 on Ethereum and Solana, is a tokenized gold fund restricted to institutions and accredited investors. DBS Physical Gold Tokens target retail customers, are managed entirely in-house by the bank, and represent direct gold ownership rather than fund units.
Can holders redeem the tokens for real gold?
Yes. DBS says customers will be able to redeem tokens for physical gold, in addition to buying small amounts and trading at any hour. Redemption mechanics, fees and minimums have not yet been published and should appear closer to launch.
