The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is actively examining the possibility of bringing gold, alongside other asset classes, into tokenised financial frameworks. This move signals a broader institutional push toward digitally represented assets within India's financial system. The central bank's thinking on this front was made public at a fireside chat held during the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026, one of India's largest gatherings for financial technology and digital finance innovation.
What RBI's Leadership Said About Gold Tokenisation
Speaking at the event, P. Vasudevan, Executive Director of the RBI, identified gold tokenisation as one of the emerging areas currently under active exploration by the central bank. He specifically noted that while the mechanisms currently used to manage and represent gold as a financial asset come with certain limitations, tokenisation could potentially help address some of these existing challenges - positioning it as a possible improvement over present-day systems rather than a purely experimental concept.
Vasudevan went on to explain the underlying mechanics of the idea in accessible terms: tokenisation, he said, essentially involves creating a digital representation of an asset's ownership and its transaction history. This is typically achieved using blockchain or distributed-ledger technology (DLT) - the same category of technology that underpins cryptocurrencies, but here applied to established physical assets like gold rather than purely digital currencies.
A Broader Push Beyond Gold Alone
Importantly, gold is not the only asset class on the RBI's radar for this kind of digital transformation:
The central bank is looking at expanding its digital finance interface beyond the asset classes it has already tested, suggesting gold tokenisation may be part of a larger, phased rollout rather than a standalone initiative
Alongside gold, bank deposits and other financial assets are also being actively considered as potential candidates for tokenisation
Taken together, this points to a wider institutional examination of how traditional, physically-anchored assets could be represented, transferred, and managed through emerging digital financial infrastructure - potentially reshaping how ownership records, transaction histories, and asset transfers are handled across India's financial system in the years ahead
For India's gold and jewellery trade specifically, a shift toward tokenised gold could eventually open new pathways for transparent ownership tracking, easier transferability, and integration with broader digital finance tools - though the RBI's comments at this stage remain exploratory rather than a confirmed policy direction.