The World Gold Council is building standardized infrastructure for digital gold products, introducing custody coordination, reconciliation, and audit frameworks in a tokenized gold market where Tether's XAUT and Paxos's PAXG already control 84% of the market cap.
The initiative spans multiple programs rather than a single product launch. Through its Gold247 program and related standardization efforts, the council is addressing structural gaps in how digital gold tokens connect to physical bullion, how custody works across providers, and how investors verify what backs their holdings.
What the World Gold Council is actually proposing for digital gold
The council's Gold247 program argues that digital gold products need structural reform so they can operate independently of specific custodians while preserving ownership of underlying physical gold. In practical terms, that means a token holder's claim on gold bars should survive even if a single custodian exits the market.
Its "Gold as a Service" concept would standardize four operational layers: custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption. Today, each tokenized gold issuer handles these functions independently, creating fragmented infrastructure that institutional buyers may view as a risk.
A third component, Wholesale Digital Gold, introduces what the council calls Pooled Gold Interests. These are backed by a legal framework developed with law firm Linklaters for interests in a pool of vaulted gold bars. The design aims to give digital gold products a shared legal foundation rather than relying on issuer-specific arrangements.
None of this is a regulator-imposed rule. The World Gold Council is an industry body funded by gold mining companies, and its proposals function as voluntary standards rather than binding regulation. Whether issuers adopt them depends on market pressure and institutional demand.
Why this matters in a tokenized gold market led by XAUT and PAXG
The standardization push arrives in a market with clear incumbents. XAUT and PAXG accounted for 84% of the tokenized precious-metals market cap as of April 2025, according to CoinGecko's 2025 RWA report. That concentration means any infrastructure standards will inevitably be measured against what these two issuers already provide.
Tether reported in its Q1 2025 attestation that XAUT was backed by 246,523.33 ounces of gold, equivalent to more than 7.7 tons, with the token regulated in El Salvador. At press time, XAUT traded at $4,659.50 with a market cap of $2.63 billion.
Paxos, meanwhile, publishes monthly PAXG attestation reports. Since February 28, 2025, those reports have been issued by KPMG under AICPA attestation standards, with examination arrangements approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
The council's move is better understood as an attempt to improve market plumbing and institutional trust rather than a direct competitive strike at either issuer. Its primary materials discuss open digital-gold infrastructure without explicitly naming Tether or Paxos as targets. For context on how traditional finance is approaching crypto assets more broadly, Morgan Stanley's recent Bitcoin trust filing reflects a similar pattern of legacy institutions building parallel infrastructure.
Where auditing and transparency could become the differentiator
Separately from the Gold247 custody architecture, the World Gold Council has been developing audit standards through a different track. In December 2024, the council said it was progressing its Responsible Gold Investment Principles into a standardized, globally recognized audit framework for gold dealers in partnership with BSI, the British standards body.
Mike Oswin of the World Gold Council described the goal as "creating a standardised and globally recognised audit framework for gold dealers." While this effort predates and is distinct from the Gold247 digital infrastructure work, both point in the same direction: reducing trust friction through common standards.
The regulatory landscape for tokenized gold remains uneven. PAXG operates under explicit U.S. oversight through NYDFS-approved examination arrangements. XAUT's issuer presents the token as regulated in El Salvador with physical gold stored in Switzerland. A shared audit standard could give institutional allocators a single benchmark to evaluate across issuers, regardless of jurisdiction.
That potential matters because the barriers to institutional adoption of tokenized gold are less about technology and more about trust infrastructure. Pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth managers already hold physical gold and gold ETFs. What they lack for tokenized alternatives is standardized proof that the gold exists, that custody is resilient, and that redemption works under stress.
Whether the World Gold Council's proposals gain traction depends on issuer adoption and institutional demand. No immediate market repricing tied to the announcement was evident in the sources reviewed, and XAUT's 24-hour price movement of -3.1% appeared to track broader market conditions rather than a response to the standardization push.
The council's framework remains a proposal, not an adopted standard. Its impact will be measured not by the announcement itself but by whether XAUT, PAXG, or future tokenized gold issuers choose to build on its custody and audit infrastructure.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.