MKS PAMP is back! Swiss gold reinitiates tokenization, six years after its failure, making a comeback.

Swiss precious metals group MKS PAMP restarts the dormant project DGLD from six years ago through the acquisition of Gold Token SA. The new Token will be issued on mainstream public chains such as Ethereum, with a minimum redemption amount as low as 1 gram, and initial minting and redemption fees will be waived. MKS PAMP owns two large refineries in Switzerland and India, and its renowned Lady Fortuna gold bar series has passed LBMA and LPPM verification.

MKS PAMP's Dominant Position in the Gold Supply Chain

In the current situation where gold is rapidly moving onto the blockchain globally, there are not many traditional giants that have truly entered the RWA track from the source of gold bars. One of the few is the Swiss precious metals group MKS PAMP: on one hand, they control the complete supply chain from refineries and wholesale trading to branded gold bars, while on the other hand, they are determined to repackage the physical gold in their vault into digital assets that can circulate on public chains.

MKS PAMP Group is a family-owned precious metals group based in Geneva, Switzerland, with large refineries in Switzerland and India. It operates in precious metals trading, minting, supply chain distribution, and online retail. Among the products under MKS PAMP, the most well-known is undoubtedly the small gold bars featuring the “Lady Fortuna” relief design, launched in 1979, making it the first precious metals brand to decorate the back of its minted bars. Today, “Lady Fortuna” is one of the most recognized series of investment gold bars globally, widely regarded as a premium brand in markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

In addition, MKS PAMP has also passed the certifications of the authoritative organizations LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) and LPPM (London Platinum and Palladium Market) in the global over-the-counter precious metals market. The gold bars produced can be directly used for settlement in core markets such as London and Zurich. Furthermore, PAMP has long been recognized by LBMA as a “Good Delivery Referee,” taking on roles in setting industry standards, inspection, and arbitration, with only 7 companies worldwide currently selected. This dual identity—as both a gold producer and an industry standard setter—gives MKS PAMP an unparalleled reputation advantage in the field of gold tokenization.

Therefore, due to the pivotal position of Swiss gold refining in the global supply chain, MKS PAMP serves not only large clients such as central banks and mining companies but also individual investors through its distribution network and online channels. Overall, it can be seen as a typical integrated “head player” in the precious metals industry. According to Bloomberg reports, MKS PAMP's trading business accounts for about 5% of the gold trading volume in the London market, making it a leading liquidity provider in this largest gold trading center in the world.

In recent years, MKS PAMP Group has been continuously expanding, establishing a silver minting factory in an old hangar in Florida in 2024, and this October, it set up a regional headquarters in Hong Kong to seize global growth opportunities in gold and silver demand. In addition to physical space expansion and layout, MKS PAMP has also been trying to extend its reach into the cryptocurrency world.

Lessons from Six Years Ago: Timing and Technology Roadmap Choices

MKS PAMP's serious foray into gold tokenization can be traced back six years. In October 2019, CoinShares partnered with MKS PAMP and Blockchain.com to launch a gold tokenization product called “DGLD.” Each DGLD is backed by physical gold, with custody and refining handled by PAMP, while the on-chain aspect utilizes sidechain technology within the Bitcoin ecosystem for accounting and transfer purposes. The goal is to combine the “value stability of gold” with the “security of the Bitcoin network” to provide institutions 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 has physical gold backing 1:1, and is “allocated gold”; the custody location is in Switzerland, the gold bars meet LBMA standards, and are produced and quality controlled by PAMP; through the partnership platform, holders can exchange the tokens for physical gold bars, or transfer and trade on supported digital platforms.

From a technical perspective, the first version of DGLD chose Bitcoin-related infrastructure rather than the nascent Ethereum DeFi ecosystem at that time. This is related to the considerations of the project team: they placed more emphasis on Bitcoin as a “store of value” narrative and a relatively conservative user base, rather than high-frequency trading and complex contracts. However, this technical choice ultimately became one of the important reasons for the project's failure. The liquidity and composability of Bitcoin sidechains are far inferior to Ethereum, limiting the application scenarios of DGLD in DeFi protocols.

However, the project quickly fell into silence. The project team admitted during the product review that the market demand for gold tokens was still very early in 2019, and the awareness of institutions and retail investors, compliance pathways, and infrastructure were not ready to sustain a sufficiently large scale. Overall, MKS PAMP's participation in the DGLD project was more of a concept verification and product trial for gold tokenization. This failure provided valuable experience for today's restart.

Comprehensive Upgrade of DGLD 2.0: Triple Evolution in Technology, Compliance, and Liquidity

(Source: MKS PAMP)

In November 2025, MKS PAMP announced the full acquisition of Gold Token SA (GTSA), which is the actual issuance entity of the DGLD program, established in 2018 and registered in the Canton of Geneva. After the acquisition, GTSA will restart the DGLD gold tokenization business as a tokenized entity under MKS PAMP. Learning from past experiences, MKS PAMP has conducted a comprehensive “upgrade” in terms of technology, compliance, and liquidity.

Firstly, the DGLD Token is no longer focused on the relatively niche Bitcoin sidechain ecosystem, but is issued based on mainstream public chains like Ethereum, adopting commonly used smart contract standards, and planning for cross-chain or multi-chain compatibility with other chains. For a gold token “used for collateral, settlement, and liquidity management,” composability and integration costs are often more important than the narrative of the chain itself. Choosing mature networks like Ethereum clearly aligns better with the current reality of industrial infrastructure. This shift in technical direction allows DGLD to be directly integrated into mainstream DeFi protocols like Aave and Compound, used as collateral or trading pairs.

MKS PAMP states that the newly issued DGLD corresponds to a certain amount of physical gold, and is only sold to accredited institutional investors. The focus is to provide a “on-chain gold” tool for institutional investors, family offices, and entities holding large amounts of crypto assets, used for hedging volatility, serving as collateral, or for asset-liability management. Regarding compliance issues, the operational project’s physical Gold Token SA is headquartered in Switzerland and is regulated by the self-regulatory organization VQF under the supervision of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

One of the biggest shortcomings in the DGLD project six years ago was the lack of market adoption and liquidity. To address this issue, MKS PAMP plans to provide liquidity for DGLD through its own trading department and partners, and institutions holding DGLD can also sell on secondary cryptocurrency exchanges to avoid a situation where liquidity gradually dries up, as was seen in 2019.

According to Kurt Hemecker, CEO of Gold Token SA, the restart of DGLD is still in preparation, and the official statement indicates that it will likely first unfold in the decentralized field. Kurt himself is also an old player in the crypto industry, having served as the CEO of the lightweight public chain Mina Foundation, as well as the Chief of Staff for Diem (formerly known as Libra), a stablecoin launched by Meta. After being acquired by MKS PAMP, Kurt will serve as the Head of Digital Assets for the group.

The Differentiated Advantages of DGLD Compared to PAXG and XAUT

As interest in digital gold grows, various digital gold token schemes have emerged in the market, with major players including Paxos Gold's PAXG and Tether Gold's XAUT. The PAXG token issued by Paxos Trust corresponds to one troy ounce of LBMA-certified allocated gold per token. PAXG is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and the custodian company publishes audit reports monthly. Investors can exchange 430 PAXG tokens for LBMA-quality gold bars (400 troy ounces, approximately 12.5 kg) or withdraw in USD. PAXG features high transparency and regulatory endorsement, and trading is relatively active, but the threshold is high, and there are certain fees to be paid during the minting and redemption processes.

XAUT is the token launched by Tether Gold in 2020, with each XAUT pegged to 1 ounce of physical gold stored in Swiss vaults. Tether claims that XAUT corresponds 1:1 with physical gold and provides an online tool to verify the gold bar serial numbers. Compared to PAXG, the issuer of XAUT lacks similar traditional financial licensing regulation, and its disclosure framework and auditing standards rely more on self-discipline from the issuer, making it less strict in terms of “regulatory endorsement” and transparency compared to PAXG. XAUT typically requires redemption to be done in whole ounces, and sometimes miner fees or transaction fees may need to be paid during the exchange.

In contrast, DGLD from MKS PAMP is issued by the world's top precious metals refinery, with a redemption minimum as low as 1 gram, making it more flexible compared to the ounce thresholds of PAXG and XAUT. On the other hand, a major challenge in operating gold tokenization products is how to cover vault custody costs. Most products charge fees during the minting and redemption phases, but MKS PAMP, in its initial restart phase, will waive these related fees. Furthermore, MKS PAMP promises to back its market making with its own trading department to enhance liquidity.

The Three Major Differentiating Advantages of DGLD 2.0

Flexible Threshold: Redemption starts at a minimum of 1 gram, far lower than the whole ounce requirement of PAXG and XAUT.

Free Mechanism: Initially, there are no minting and redemption fees, reducing user costs.

Directly Operated by the Factory: Control quality and supply from the source, without relying on third-party custodians.

These characteristics give DGLD a potential advantage in the competition. Overall, the current market size for tokenized gold is still relatively small, while MKS PAMP, leveraging its strength and experience, has significant potential in this niche market. Future specific costs and launch schedules will still be subject to official terms and announcements.

RWA narrative heating up creates historical opportunities for gold tokenization

The biggest difference between the failures of six years ago and today's restart lies in the maturity of the market environment. In 2019, DeFi was still in its infancy, with the market capitalization of stablecoins only in the tens of billions of dollars, and institutional investors had a very low acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Gold tokenization seemed more like a forward-thinking concept, lacking practical application scenarios and user demand. Today, the total value locked in DeFi exceeds 50 billion dollars, the market capitalization of stablecoins has surpassed 180 billion dollars, and the tokenization of RWA (real-world assets) has become one of the industry's hottest narratives.

Gold tokenization has found multiple application scenarios in this new environment. Firstly, as collateral for DeFi protocols, gold tokens provide a low-volatility alternative. Compared to the extreme fluctuations of cryptocurrencies, gold prices are relatively stable, making it an ideal collateral asset. Secondly, institutional investors can use gold tokens for fast settlements and cross-border transfers, avoiding the high costs and long durations of physical gold transport. Thirdly, family offices and high-net-worth individuals can allocate part of their assets to on-chain gold, enjoying the transparency of blockchain and the convenience of 24/7 trading.