RBI Ignites Digital Revolution, Expanding Tokenisation to Gold and Beyond
Context mode is active. Hover over any highlighted term to see its definition. Click a nested term to go deeper.
India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is riding high on the success of its pilot project to digitise Certificates of Deposit (CDs) through 'tokenisation' and is now ready to expand this innovative technology to a much wider range of financial assets. After successfully completing 249 transactions with tokenised CDs, the RBI sees a future where key financial instruments can be issued, traded, and settled faster and more efficiently. This push, highlighted by RBI Executive Director P. Vasudevan at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, aims to fundamentally change India's digital financial ecosystem. The pilot showed that using a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC-W) for payments allows for 'atomic settlement', meaning trades are finalised instantly, reducing risks and speeding up the market. The central bank is now actively looking at tokenising assets like gold, corporate bonds, government securities, and even bank deposits, which could open up new investment opportunities and make markets more accessible for everyone through 'fractional ownership'. While the potential benefits are huge, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Vasudevan have also flagged important risks around data privacy, legal clarity, and ensuring different digital platforms can work together seamlessly. The Maharashtra government's proposal for a 'DELTA Act' to tokenise land assets shows this digital shift isn't just for financial markets but could reshape how physical assets are owned and traded too, marking a significant step towards a truly digital economy for India.