Author: Zen, PANews

In the current climate of accelerating the global shift of gold to blockchain, there are not many traditional giants that have truly entered the RWA (Real Gold Assets Exchange) field from the source of gold bars. MKS PAMP, a Swiss-based precious metals group, is one of the few: it controls the entire supply chain from refineries and wholesale trading to branded gold bars, and is determined to repackage the physical gold in its vaults into digital assets that can circulate on public blockchains.

Six years ago, it participated in the launch of the early gold token DGLD, but it quickly faded into obscurity due to its premature timing and immature market. Now, with the gold token market, represented by Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG), approaching billions of dollars in size and the RWA narrative gaining momentum, MKS PAMP has once again brought DGLD back to the center stage through its acquisition of Gold Token SA.

Leading integrated player in precious metals

MKS PAMP Group is a family-owned precious metals group headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It owns two large refineries in Switzerland and India and operates precious metals trading, mint, supply chain distribution, and online retail businesses.

Among MKS PAMP's products, the most well-known is undoubtedly the small gold bar launched in 1979 featuring an embossed "Lady Fortuna" design, making it the first precious metal brand to decorate the back of its gold bars. Today, "Lady Fortuna" is one of the most recognized investment gold bar series globally, widely regarded as a high-end brand in markets such as Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Furthermore, MKS PAMP is certified by both the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) and LPPM (London Platinum and Palladium Market), authoritative bodies in the global over-the-counter precious metals market. Its gold bars can be directly used for settlement in core markets such as London and Zurich. Moreover, PAMP has long been recognized by the LBMA as a "Good Delivery Referee," undertaking industry standards, inspection, and arbitration roles; currently, only seven companies worldwide have been selected.

Therefore, thanks to its pivotal position in the global gold refining supply chain, MKS PAMP serves both large clients such as central banks and mining companies, and also targets individual investors through its distribution network and online channels. Overall, it can be considered a typical integrated "leading player" in the precious metals industry. According to Bloomberg, MKS PAMP's trading business accounts for approximately 5% of the gold trading volume in the London market, making it a top-tier liquidity provider in the world's largest gold trading center.

In recent years, the MKS PAMP Group has continued to expand, establishing a silver mint in a former hangar in Florida in 2024 and setting up a regional headquarters in Hong Kong this October to seize opportunities arising from the growing global demand for gold and silver. In addition to expanding its physical presence, MKS PAMP has also been trying to extend its reach into the cryptocurrency world.

The first attempt at gold tokenization was made six years ago.

MKS PAMP's first serious foray into gold tokenization dates back six years.

In October 2019, CoinShares, in partnership with MKS PAMP and Blockchain.com, launched a gold tokenization product called "DGLD". Each DGLD is pegged to physical gold, with custody and refining handled by PAMP. On-chain, it utilizes sidechain/sidenet technology from the Bitcoin ecosystem for ledger recording and transfer. The goal is to combine the "value stability of gold" with the "security of the Bitcoin network," providing institutional and high-net-worth clients with a more easily transferable and programmable way to hold gold.

The official promotion at the time emphasized several selling points: it was backed by physical gold on a 1:1 basis and was “allocated gold”; the custody was in Switzerland, the gold bars met LBMA standards, and the production and quality control were handled by the PAMP refinery; through the cooperative platform, holders could exchange the tokens for physical gold bars, or transfer and trade them on supported digital platforms.

From a technical perspective, the first version of DGLD chose Bitcoin-related infrastructure rather than the then-nascent Ethereum DeFi ecosystem. This was related to the project team's considerations: they valued Bitcoin's narrative as a "store of value" and its relatively conservative user base, rather than high-frequency trading and complex contracts.

However, the project quickly fell into disuse. Reflecting on the product, the project team admitted that market demand for gold tokens in 2019 was still in its very early stages, and neither institutional nor retail investors' understanding, compliance pathways, nor infrastructure were prepared to handle a sufficiently large scale. In general, MKS PAMP's participation in the DGLD project was more of a proof-of-concept and product trial for gold tokenization.

Acquisition of encryption technology company to restart DGLD project

In November 2025, MKS PAMP announced the full acquisition of Gold Token SA (GTSA), the actual issuer of the DGLD project , which was registered in the Canton of Geneva in 2018. Following the acquisition, GTSA will serve as MKS PAMP's tokenization arm to relaunch the DGLD gold tokenization business. Learning from past experiences, MKS PAMP has undertaken a comprehensive "upgrade" in terms of technology, compliance, and liquidity.

First, the DGLD token no longer focuses on the relatively niche Bitcoin sidechain ecosystem, but is instead issued on mainstream public chains such as Ethereum, adopting common smart contract standards and planning cross-chain or multi-chain compatibility with other chains. For a gold token "used for staking, settlement, and liquidity management," composability and integration costs are often more important than the chain's narrative itself. Choosing mature networks like Ethereum is clearly more in line with the current reality of industry infrastructure.

MKS PAMP states that the newly issued DGLD still corresponds to a certain weight of physical gold and is only sold to certified institutional investors. The focus is on providing institutional investors, family offices, and entities holding large amounts of crypto assets with an "on-chain gold" tool for hedging volatility, serving as collateral, or managing balance sheets. Regarding compliance, the entity operating the project, Gold Token SA, is headquartered in Switzerland and regulated by VQF, a self-regulatory organization managed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

Six years ago, market adoption and insufficient liquidity were among the biggest shortcomings of the DGLD project. To address this issue, MKS PAMP plans to provide liquidity for DGLD through its own trading arm and partners, while institutions holding DGLD can also sell it on secondary cryptocurrency exchanges to avoid a situation like the gradual depletion of liquidity that occurred in 2019.

According to Kurt Hemecker, CEO of Gold Token SA, the relaunch of DGLD is still in preparation, and the official statement indicates that it will likely begin in the decentralized space first. Kurt himself is a veteran of the crypto industry, having previously served as CEO of the Mina Foundation, a lightweight public blockchain, and Chief of Staff for Meta's stablecoin Diem (formerly Libra). After being acquired and joining MKS PAMP, Kurt will serve as the group's Head of Digital Assets.

What are the advantages of MKS PAMP compared to existing gold tokens?

As interest in digital gold grows, various digital gold token schemes have emerged in the market, with major players including PAXG issued by Paxos Gold and XAUT launched by Tether Gold.

Paxos Trust issues PAXG tokens, each corresponding to one troy ounce of LBMA-certified distributed gold. PAXG is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and its custodian company publishes monthly audit reports. Investors can exchange 430 PAXG tokens for LBMA premium delivery gold bars (400 troy ounces, approximately 12.5 kg) or withdraw funds in US dollars. PAXG boasts high transparency and regulatory backing, resulting in relatively active trading, but the entry threshold is high, and fees apply to minting and redemption.

XAUT is a token launched by Tether Gold in 2020, with each XAUT pegged to one ounce of physical gold stored in a Swiss vault. Tether claims a 1:1 correspondence between XAUT and physical gold and provides online tools to verify the bar serial numbers. Compared to PAXG, XAUT's issuer lacks the regulatory oversight of traditional financial licenses, and its disclosure framework and audit standards rely more on the issuer's self-discipline. Therefore, it is not as stringent in terms of regulatory endorsement and transparency as PAXG. XAUT redemptions typically require transactions in whole ounces, and sometimes miner fees or transaction fees are charged during redemption.

In contrast, MKS PAMP's DGLD is issued by a world-leading precious metals refinery, with a minimum redemption amount as low as 1 gram, offering greater flexibility compared to the ounce thresholds of PAXG and XAUT. On the other hand, a major challenge in operating gold tokenization products is covering vault storage costs. Most products charge fees for minting and redemption, but MKS PAMP will waive these fees during the initial relaunch phase. Future specific fees and launch schedules will be subject to official terms and announcements.

Furthermore, MKS PAMP promises to leverage its own trading division for market making to enhance liquidity. These features give DGLD a potential competitive advantage. Overall, the tokenized gold market is still relatively small, and MKS PAMP, with its strength and experience, has considerable potential in this niche market.