Gold Will Enter the Digital Era, Says World Gold Council CEO
World Gold Council CEO, David Tait, claimed that digital transformation will change how gold is owned, traded, and used, making gold as accessible as a digital wallet for a new generation of investors.
The gold market stands on the cusp of a digital transformation that could make the ancient safe-haven asset as effortlessly usable as money stored in a smartphone wallet, according to World Gold Council (WGC) Chief Executive Officer David Tait.
Tait laid out a vision where digitalization reshapes not merely how individuals invest in the precious metal, but also the role it plays across the broader global financial system.
The WGC is trying to push its Gold247 initiative to support that shift, a program designed to bridge the physical bullion space with how digital finance works. The effort includes a worldwide database for correctly-sourced gold and a "gold-as-a-service" intended to streamline the rollout and uptake of digital gold offerings.
Tait expects tech-native younger generations to become the primary engine of this evolution. As wealth transfers to the younger generations, investors comfortable managing portfolios through smartphones are increasingly drawn toward click-to-buy digital gold rather than conventional bars, coins, or jewelry.
He also pointed to China as a key player in guiding this transformation. Tait described the SGC from Shanghai as a model carrying international significance and suggested that tighter coordination between Shanghai and Hong Kong could bolster global gold trading, custody services, and the broader internationalization of China’s gold market.
Gansu itself, home to China’s second-largest gold reserves, generated roughly 180 billion yuan ($26.6 billion) in gold-sector industrial output last year. Governor Ren Zhenhe told attendees the province intends to leverage the conference to deepen the merging of resource advantages, enterprise capabilities, and market vitality while speeding up high-end, intelligent, green, and secure development of the gold industry.
While physical bars and coins will remain an important segment, Tait believes trusted digital products backed by physical gold will increasingly attract investors because they are simpler to access, trade, and weave into diversified portfolios.
Related assets: Gold, Silver, Palladium, Platinum