RBI Eyes Gold Tokenization for Digital Currency

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is actively exploring the integration of gold tokenization into its Unified Markets Interface. This forward-thinking platform currently supports the settlement of tokenized financial instruments through wholesale central bank digital currency. The RBI's strategic objective is to expand the interface's capabilities to include a wider array of asset classes, moving beyond the successful pilots of tokenized certificates of deposit and commercial paper.

While gold represents a significant possibility for tokenization, discussions are also underway to assess other financial assets, including deposits and corporate bonds. Executive Director P. Vasudevan highlighted these potential expansions at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, emphasizing the goal of a larger ecosystem. However, he also sounded a note of caution, pointing out that certain applications could introduce new regulatory and systemic risks.

Vasudevan specifically noted that tokenizing deposits warrants heightened vigilance, as it could create financial stability challenges, despite offering potential solutions for individual institutions. Further concerns were raised regarding legal certainty, data privacy, consent management, platform concentration, and the critical need for interoperability, a key success factor in India's existing payment systems. The RBI's extensive experience with tokenization, demonstrated by its card-on-file framework with 118 crore cards tokenized, provides a strong foundation for these future endeavors.