Singapore's DBS Bank to Offer Tokenized Physical Gold to Retail Clients

DBS Group, Southeast Asia's largest lender by assets, announced on Thursday that it will provide retail customers with access to tokenized physical gold. The offering, named DBS Physical Gold Tokens, is scheduled to launch on the bank’s digibank application in the second half of 2026.

The bank stated this would be the first service in Singapore allowing retail clients to digitally access, hold, and trade tokenized physical gold through a unified platform. Tokenization is the process of converting ownership of a real-world asset into a digital token for electronic trading. Each token will represent one gram of physical gold secured in a dedicated DBS vault in Singapore, valued at approximately S$200 (US$155) as of Thursday.

Customers will have the ability to purchase fractional amounts of gold, conduct trades around the clock, and redeem their digital tokens for the underlying physical asset. The initiative comes as gold continues to be a sought-after store of value, despite recent price volatility, and supports the city-state's efforts to establish itself as a major trading hub for the precious metal.

Gold prices reached a record high of US$5,600 an ounce earlier this year amid concerns over inflation, geopolitical instability, and market fluctuations. However, spot gold subsequently fell to $4,111.95 on Wednesday, its lowest level since March 23 and a 27% decline from its peak.

"Gold as an asset class has taken off in recent years," said James Tan, the bank's group head of investment products and advisory services, noting that tokenization would broaden access for retail investors. Supporting this trend, DBS reported that physical gold holdings among its wealth management clients have more than doubled over the past three years. The bank is also exploring a potential listing of the token on its DBS Digital Exchange for accredited investors and institutional partners.