Stacy Pereira
- The World Gold Council is launching a pilot for a digital version of gold, termed Pooled Gold Interests (PGIs)
- The mechanism will allow fractional ownership of physical gold held in segregated trust accounts, enable digital transfers, and be used for collateral purposes.
- The pilot is set to begin in Q1 2026, involving major commercial participants acting as co-owners under a legal trust framework.
According to a Financial Times report, the World Gold Council (WGC) is moving forward with its plans to trial a unique digital form of gold. They are terming it as “Pooled Gold Interests” (PGIs), and they hope it will reshape how gold is traded. PGIs will be traded, settled, and utilized as collateral in the London bullion market, and are valued at approximately $900 billion.
This initiative seeks to digitize gold for the first time in a meaningful way. Unlike traditional physical ownership, PGIs would allow fractional ownership of gold held in segregated, trust-backed accounts. It will allow for digital transfers and collateralization across the gold ecosystem.
David Tait, CEO of the WGC, told FT that the idea behind the move is to standardize a digital layer for gold. PGIs would then enable the creation of new financial products. This would make gold more dynamic as asset managers would look at it as a yield-generating asset rather than a static store of value.
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Adding a new transaction type to London’s OTC gold market
The pilot program is set to kick off in London’s OTC bullion market in Q1 2026 and will see major banks and trading houses participating in it. These institutions will act as co-owners in a trust structure that underlies the PGIs.
According to the report, the new concept introduces a third transaction type to the London market, complementing the existing allocated (specific bar ownership) and unallocated (general claim) models. This will offer both physical ownership and the flexibility of digital assets. The initiative is in-line with the broader Wholesale Digital Gold vision under WGC’s Gold247 strategy. It will be built on the WGC and LBMA’s earlier Gold Bar Integrity programme, a blockchain-based initiative launched in January to enhance transparency and traceability in gold sourcing and refining
How will PGIs be different from gold-pegged tokens?
PGIs are rooted in the London bullion market’s rigorous OTC infrastructure and backed by a trust-held pool of physical gold. In contrast, tokens like XAUt (Tether Gold) typically involve digital claims to specific bars or equivalents, often held in vaults, but not necessarily governed by established market frameworks.
PGIs will be integrated into the traditional cash-and-carry over-the-counter network and co-owned by major financial institutions. Whereas gold-backed tokens operate in the broader crypto ecosystem that is accessible to retail and digital investors, but often lacks institutional integration.
The program aims to enhance transparency, bolster regulatory compliance, and unlock new yield-generating opportunities for institutional users like banks and asset managers, who will now get to see a new side to gold.
