Tokenised gold is the oldest real-world-asset idea in crypto and still the most frequently overclaimed. The word backed does a great deal of work in marketing copy and very little of it is defined. Here is the framework CryptoxInsights applies.
1. Assay: is it the metal it says it is?
Purity and weight must be established by a recognised assayer, and the resulting certificate must be traceable to a specific lot. For refined bullion, London Bullion Market Association good delivery standards are the reference point. For mine-level material, the equivalent question is whether assay happens at a documented point with an auditable chain back to the concession.
2. Custody: who holds it, and under what legal wrapper?
Allocated and segregated custody, with the token holder's claim recognised in the custody agreement, is the standard to insist on. Unallocated arrangements make the holder an unsecured creditor. The legal wrapper matters as much as the vault.
3. Attestation: who checks, how often, and against what?
Monthly independent attestation naming the auditor, the vault and the bar list is meaningfully better than a quarterly self-report. Our RWA directory and reserve tracker grades issuers on exactly this axis.
Proof of reserves without proof of liabilities and a redemption right is a photograph of a vault, not an audit.
4. Redemption: can anyone actually get the metal?
A redemption right with a realistic minimum size, a published fee schedule and evidence of completed redemptions is the ultimate test. Everything upstream is theory until someone takes delivery.
Where mine-level producers change the picture
Most tokenised gold products buy refined bullion on the open market, so their provenance starts at the vault door. A producer-linked model, of the kind Burlcore Mining Uganda describes around its licensed Busia output, can in principle extend the audit trail back to the concession itself: licence, extraction record, processing, assay, custody. That is a stronger provenance story than vault-only issuance, and it also carries operational risk that vault-only issuers do not have. Both things are true, and buyers should price both.