DBS has expanded its gold offerings to include tokenised physical gold to its customers in Singapore.
The move comes amid growing demand as well as a push to strengthen Singapore’s status as a global gold trading hub, says the bank in a June 11 statement. Gold prices reached an all-time high of US$5,600 per ounce earlier this year. Investors across the region have also continued to seek gold as a store of value and a portflio diversifier to hedge against inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility, the bank adds.
The DBS Physical Gold Tokens, which will be tokenised, issued, distributed and managed in-house, will be available via its digibank app for retail customers in the second half of 2026.
Each token is backed by one gram of physical gold held by DBS in a vault in Singapore.
The tokens will be available via DBS’s digibank app in the second half of 2026.
“Our ability to deliver DBS Physical Gold Token is built on DBS’ fully in-sourced, end-to-end institutional capability – physical vaulting, tokenisation engine, digital custody and digitised distribution,” says Li Zhen, DBS’s head of foreign exchange, precious metals and digital assets, global financial markets. “Through the secure and compliant deployment, underpinned by robust risk management and governance, we are able to minimise operational friction and streamline physical gold access and management for our clients.”
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James Tan, group head, investment product and advisory, DBS, adds: “Gold as an asset class has taken off in recent years, demonstrating its enduring value as a safe haven and a critical diversifier in uncertain times.”
“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,” he continues.
The bank is also exploring plans to list the token on DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) with more details to come in due course.
According to the bank’s spokesperson, the asset under management (AUM) of physical gold holdings in its wealth clients' portfolios more than doubled over the past three years, which reflects its chief investment officer’s (CIO) “longstanding conviction in the precious metal and its strong performance during this period.”
