Gold exchange-traded funds, institutional participation and digitalisation are expected to drive the next phase of global gold investment demand, David Tait, chief executive officer of the World Gold Council, said on Friday. Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2026, Tait said gold ETFs are emerging as a particularly attractive investment route in India, especially for younger investors.
He noted that around 25 gold ETFs were launched in India last year alone, reflecting a shift away from traditional jewellery-led demand towards financial forms of gold ownership.
Globally, Tait said future gold inflows are expected to come increasingly through ETFs and institutional channels rather than physical purchases. He highlighted large untapped pools of capital, including pension funds and insurance companies in India, Japan and China, which have yet to meaningfully allocate to gold.
Tait said the World Gold Council has spent the past several years working to make gold easier to hold and trade as an investment asset, lowering barriers such as capital intensity, lack of transparency and operational complexity. These efforts, he said, are aimed at positioning gold as a mainstream portfolio asset for institutions.
On digitalisation, Tait said the council sees it as “the future of gold”. He outlined work underway on a new digital allocated gold market that would allow fractional ownership of physically allocated gold with legal title, enabling gold to be transferred and used as collateral more efficiently within the financial system.
Such infrastructure could eventually allow banks and even central banks to deploy gold reserves more effectively, he said, while also providing a credible foundation for future gold-backed tokens and digital products.
Tait noted that while gold-backed stablecoins and tokens have drawn attention globally, they have struggled to gain scale. In India, he said gold-backed ETFs remain the most effective and trusted route for modern gold investment under existing regulations.
He also flagged regulatory challenges, noting that gold is still not recognised as a high-quality liquid asset (HQLA) under global banking norms, resulting in heavy capital penalties. Efforts are underway to address these constraints, which could significantly broaden institutional participation if successful.
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