Banking giant HSBC is enabling retail investors in Hong Kong to purchase real gold via digital tokens. It was reported on Wednesday that HSBC’s new gold investment is available through the bank’s online banking service and application.
This is the first time HSBC is using its private distributed ledger for ordinary investors. The bank is using its Orion digital asset platform to power the gold token. The platform facilitates the issuance and custody of digital assets such as bonds.
The launch of HSBC’s gold token marks the start of sales of retail products based on the Orion platform. The system generates digital tokens representing actual gold bars, allowing them to be traded through HSBC’s single dealer platform.
The Orion platform powers the tokenization process
Orion was previously used by the bank to issue digital bonds in Hong Kong and Luxembourg and to tokenize physical gold for institutional investors in London.
HSBC CEO Maggie Ng said: “We are proud that HSBC Gold Token, operated by HSBC Orion, is the first retail product in Hong Kong based on distributed ledger technology, as authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission.”
“We appreciate the growing demand for digital assets and our clients’ existing knowledge of gold investments,” she added.
Growth of tokenization in financial markets
Tokenization refers to the creation of digital representations of real world assets (RWAs) on the blockchain. These digital tokens act as verifiable records of ownership or value associated with an underlying asset, such as stocks, real estate and even precious metals.
The conversion of RWAs to digital tokens on the blockchain has become a dominant trend in established financial institutions. This development is in line with the Boston Consulting Group ‘s late 2022 forecast, which predicts that the value of tokenized assets could reach a staggering $16 billion over the next decade.
This forecast may have initially seemed unrealistic to some. However, recent actions by major institutions suggest growing acceptance and potential for this financial technology. By the end of 2023, the landscape has clearly changed. Major institutions, including HSBC and Deutsche Bank, have actively begun preparing to offer sw
This forecast may have initially seemed unrealistic to some. However, recent actions by major institutions suggest growing acceptance and potential for this financial technology.
By the end of 2023, the landscape has clearly changed. Major institutions, including HSBC and Deutsche Bank, have actively begun preparing to offer tokenized asset custody services to their clients.
