Standardizing Digital Gold: A New Infrastructure Report

New Delhi, March 23 – The World Gold Council (WGC) announced its ‘Gold as a Service’ platform on Monday, aiming to link the physical custody of gold with digital systems and expand access to digital gold products in India.

Platform Overview​

According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) India report, ‘Gold as a Service’ is an open platformthat connects the physical storage of gold with the digital systems used to issue and manage gold-backed products.

The platform standardizes:

• Custody coordination
• Reconciliation
• Compliance
• Redemption

This approach is designed to reduce operational complexity, improve access, and enable greater consistency across digital gold products.

Benefits for Indian Investors​

“Gold is deeply ingrained in India’s cultural and financial fabric, with households holding over 25,000 tons. ‘Gold as a Service’ modernizes and digitizes access for millions of Indian investors,” said Abhishek Bhatia, Managing Director and Partner at BCG.

The shared infrastructure will enable seamless access to digital gold products across India’s fintech ecosystem and UPI-driven payments landscape, fostering trust and interoperability.

Empowering Innovation​

Bhatia added that the platform will empower:

• Neobanks
• Jewelry retailers
• Fintech innovators

This enables scalable gold-backed savings, remittances, and micro-investments, making it easier for millions of Indians to save and invest in gold digitally.

Digital Gold Landscape​

The World Gold Council noted that while gold trading, clearing, and recordkeeping have largely moved online, digital gold adoption remains limited due to structural challenges like lack of standardizationand reduced fungibility.

The ‘Gold as a Service’ platform aims to overcome these constraints and modernize the integration of gold into India’s digital financial ecosystem.