The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a Call for Input on tokenised gold on September 14, asking market participants whether moving the precious metal onto blockchain rails could improve how it is traded, transferred, pledged and held in UK wholesale markets. Depending on the feedback it receives, the regulator said it may introduce additional regulatory clarity, guidance, a bespoke regime built alongside the Treasury, or other measures.
Why Gold Now
The paper follows a May call for input the FCA ran jointly with the Bank of England on the future of tokenisation, in which gold emerged as an area of industry interest. Responses to that earlier paper cited the international strength of the London spot gold trading market, prompting the regulator to seek more targeted views. “Gold tokenisation could make gold easier to transfer and use across markets, particularly as wholesale collateral,” the FCA wrote. “It may also support new forms of retail investment and product innovation.”
The Options on the Table
The FCA is weighing a menu of policy responses. Feedback could lead to additional regulatory clarity, guidance, a bespoke regime for tokenised gold, or other actions. A central question is whether uncertainty around the collective investment scheme (CIS) and alternative investment fund (AIF) regulatory perimeter is holding back certain use cases for the metal. The regulator is also exploring how interoperability can be improved through industry-led market standards. Comments are due by October 23.
Part of a Wider Tokenisation Push
The gold paper lands alongside a joint FCA and Bank of England feedback statement on tokenisation, which confirmed work on tokenised collateral and committed the authorities to publishing a tokenisation roadmap later this year. It also builds on steady growth in the sector, with global tokenised gold trading topping $90.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, and lenders such as Arch Lending beginning to accept tokenised gold as collateral.
The feedback statement and the gold paper mark the latest steps in a broader push by UK authorities to modernise wholesale markets through tokenisation. The FCA and the Bank of England said the roadmap would set out target dates and key dependencies, giving firms a clearer sense of how tokenised assets such as gold may be treated in practice.
