London-based HSBC launched tokenized gold for retail clients today. Moving forward, it will look to roll out more assets in digitalized form.
HSBC has launched tokenized gold to retail clients in Hong Kong via online banking and its mobile app, according to a statement. The «HSBC Gold Token» is powered by the bank’s digital assets platform, HSBC Orion.
Knowledge of the launch was first made public by its Hong Kong chief digital officer Bojan Obradović during the «Milken Institute Global Investor’s Symposium» on Tuesday.
Digital Gold
The British lender had previously also leveraged HSBC Orion to help institutional investors tokenize physical gold in London. According to CoinDesk, the combined market capitalization of tokenized gold assets has surpassed $1 billion since 2023.
«We are proud that HSBC Gold Token […] is the first retail product in Hong Kong that is based on distributed ledger technology, as authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission,» said Maggie Ng, general manager as well as head of wealth and personal banking, Hong Kong. «We acknowledge the rising demand for digital assets and the existing familiarity of our customers with gold investment.»
More Tokenization
Aside from gold, HSBC has also previously introduced digital bonds in Hong Kong and Luxembourg. Moving forward, it will look further its tokenization efforts, though the bank did not reveal what assets it would be targeting.
«Asset tokenization opens up more opportunities for customers to digitally invest in real-world assets,» said Xian Chan, global head of digital assets, investments and wealth solutions. «Combining our capabilities in offering traditional investment solutions with digitized experiences, we will continue to look into tokenizing more assets to unlock the potential of digital investing for our customers.»
