DBS Survey Finds Institutional Investors Expect Tokenised Gold Growth Across Asia

A DBS Group Research white paper published in November 2026, drawing on an independent survey of central banks, asset managers, and banks conducted by Kantar in September 2026, finds that institutional investors anticipate tokenised gold will be among the fastest-growing gold formats over the next twelve months, alongside exchange-traded funds and derivatives. The study, titled “Gold in an Age of Transformation”, also identifies emerging Asian gold hubs as gaining momentum, with survey respondents pointing to Singapore’s regulatory stability, market infrastructure, and liquidity as central to unlocking both physical and digital gold market opportunities.

The findings arrive as Singapore has publicly set out focus areas for developing itself as a gold trading centre, and as DBS has separately expanded its own gold offerings to include tokenised physical gold for customers in Singapore. The survey results therefore reflect sentiment that is at least partly shaped by an environment in which regulatory and commercial groundwork is already being laid, rather than speculative appetite alone.

For operators in tokenised real-world assets, the signal worth tracking is the institutional demand side: central banks and asset managers, not just retail-facing platforms, are registering expectations of growth in tokenised gold formats. That said, the study is a DBS-commissioned white paper rather than independent research, and readers should weigh the findings accordingly, noting that the bank has a disclosed commercial interest in tokenised gold products. The more durable question the survey raises is whether Singapore’s infrastructure advantages can translate into durable market share as other Asian gold hubs also gather pace.