Digix Rolls Out Ethereum-Based Digital Gold Asset Platform

Digix, a Singapore-based digital assets company, has rolled out its platform to tokenise gold and other physical assets on the Ethereum blockchain, IBTimes UK reported.

"Physical asset tokenisation is arguably one of the big killer apps for the blockchain. The ability to marry the real world with the digital world on a decentralized peer to peer platform opens up many new opportunities”, said Anthony Eufemio, CTO and co-founder of Digix.

In order to track an asset through its chain of custody, the Digix Proof of Asset (PoA) ​protocol uses Ethereum and the InterPlanetary Files System (IPFS), which enables open and public verification of an asset's existence without a centralized database.

The company is also offering an API that allows other applications to be built on top of its asset tokenisation service.

Explaining how purchases work at Digix, the company explained in a blog post on Medium that the Digix Client is a wallet that Holds Digix Gold Asset Cards, Digix Gold Tokens and Ether and allows a user to purchase gold bars through its marketplace.

After every checkout, a Digix Gold Asset Card will be created and sent to a user’s Ethereum wallet. The company says that it will fill an order within 3 business days as it has to arrange the necessary logistics to get the gold bar from the supplier to the custodian.

Then, users can send their Asset Card within its app to a ‘Minter Smart Contract’ to turn them 1:1 into Digix Gold tokens. Every Digix Gold token represents 1gram of gold, divisible to 0.001.

Digix said in a statement: "For fungibility, users will be able to convert these assets into fungible DGX gold tokens on the Ethereum Blockchain autonomously 1:1. Every DGX token represents 1gram of gold, and can eventually be recasted back into a physical gold bar for redemption. The Digix client itself also has an Ethereum Wallet."

IBTimes further said that when EtherEx will go live, it will be fully integrated with Digix. It removes the need to depend upon any centralised virtual currency exchange for various digital currencies or crypto assets, which makes exchanging truly P2P on Ethereum. Digix added that other assets like diamonds will be soon listed on their platform.

"Giving users easy access to many different kinds of digital assets on the blockchain, and particularly tokens that are linked to assets in the real world, is crucial to seeing blockchain adoption reach the next level, and I applaud Digix Global's initiative in being the first of many such projects to successfully launch”, IBTimes quoted said Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin.