Global bank HSBC has claimed to be the first institution to offer tokenised gold to investors.

The bank has launched a blockchain-based platform that creates a digital twin of institutional investors’ physical gold holdings – specifically London gold held in custody by HSBC.

The platform allows the gold to be tokenised and can then be traded between HSBC and its institutional investor clients via Evolve, the bank’s single dealer platform.

This will create a number of subsequent uses for the gold assets. Firstly, the digital representation of the gold can be integrated into HSBC’s operational infrastructure to create a digital overlay.

Not only will this give clients a digital record of their holdings, trades and positions, it will also enable more automated trading.

While the platform will initially be only for institutional investors, HSBC is also looking at developing fractional shares in London gold that can be accessed directly by retail investors.

"In addition to demand for native digital assets, we are seeing an appetite for tokenisation solutions that can maintain a link to specific real-world use cases, such as gold," says John O’Neill, global head, digital assets strategy, markets and securities services, HSBC.

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