Banking giant HSBC has reportedly launched a tokenized gold product for its retail customers in Hong Kong as the bank and the government both push to make real-world assets available in digital form.
SCMP reports that the HSBC Gold Token, which is now available on HSBC’s online banking and mobile app, is the first tokenized gold product to be issued by the bank.
Tokenized gold is the digital representation of physical gold on a blockchain. Citing data from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko, the report says the value of tokenized gold assets surpassed $1 billion in 2023.
HSBC’s gold token is also the first distributed ledger technology-based retail product in Hong Kong as authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
The world’s eighth-largest bank unveils the new financial product months after revealing that it has created tokens representing gold holdings that sit inside a London vault.
Hong Kong is pushing for the rollout of more digital assets for public use. According to the SFC, tokenized products can reduce operational costs and promote efficiency and transparency.
Says Sami Abouzahr, Hong Kong head of investments and wealth solutions at HSBC.
“Asset tokenization can enable convenient, affordable and broad access to real-world and financial assets, in this case, the HSBC Gold Token.”
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