Perth Mint issues world’s first sovereign gold digital token

The Perth Mint announced the launching of The Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT), the world’s first sovereign gold digital token.

The digital token is backed 1:1 by GoldPass certificates issued by The Perth Mint, the world’s largest refiner of newly-mined gold which is guaranteed by the Government of Western Australia.

In detail, the financial instrument is digitised gold that allows users to acquire and have entitlement over government guaranteed physical gold stored at The Perth Mint. It also allows institutional investors to get their hands on an alternative to gold exchange traded funds (ETF)s, while at the same time being able to trade and settle in real-time through blockchain technology.

PMGT is issued by precious metals digitisation company InfiniGold as an ERC-20 compatible asset-backed token. This brings GoldPass and the physical Perth Mint gold that backs each certificate to the public blockchain. 

“The real-time liquidity of PMGT is provided by market makers and enabled via The Perth Mint GoldPass platform where users can sell back to The Perth Mint, or take delivery of their holdings by exchanging their GoldPass certificates for a range of the Mint’s gold products, including LBMA London Good Delivery (LGD) bars,” the Perth Mint said in a media statement. “Subject to final regulatory consultation, this will make PMGT directly tradeable against traditional gold products, including gold ETFs, CME gold futures, and physical XAU.”

In the view of the institution’s CEO Richard Hayes, the digitisation of gold via a public ledger is a natural progression for the global commodity markets. 

“It will promote gold as a mainstream asset, enhance its accessibility, and offer greater liquidity, transparency and auditability of the real assets backing this type of digital token,” Hayes said.