Remy Blaire: Well, gold is often viewed as the oldest asset in human history, but here at Money20/20, it is at the center of a glittering fintech makeover. The World Gold Council just unveiled Gold as a Service, a shared B2B infrastructure designed to let banks, fintechs, and retailers launch their own digital gold accounts as well as tokenized products. Well, 20 years after popularizing the gold ETF, the industry is now putting physical bullion directly onto modern payment rails.
Well, joining us to break down the shift is Juan Carlos Artigas, regional CEO for the Americas and global head of research at the World Gold Council. JC, great to have you here. Thank you so much for joining me.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Thank you so much for having me.
Remy Blaire: Well, first and foremost, we’re here at Money20/20 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. So tell us about Gold as a Service.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Well, Gold as a Service is a platform that we’re focusing on to ensure that the market has the right infrastructure and connectivity between physical gold and the digital world, right? So, as you said, to bring gold to the new era, the digital era. Even though there are some existing digital assets or digital forms of gold, we want to make sure that the interconnectivity, the infrastructure, is as robust as possible to facilitate a very healthy market.
Remy Blaire: Yes. Speaking of which, I understand that the World Gold Council and BCG recently conducted a study, and apparently there’s an opportunity. And we’re not talking some small sum here. We’re talking about a latent opportunity, and it’s in the multibillions. So tell us a little bit about this, and why.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Yeah, absolutely. So we conducted a survey, actually, of about 12,000 investors. And based on that, and a lot of analysis that we’ve done in conjunction with BCG, as you mentioned, we believe that the digital gold market has a potential of about $700 billion.
Remy Blaire: Yeah, that is a really big opportunity. So I do want to build on that and also talk about the role of trust. So when we take a look at the demand here, when we’re looking at different regions across the globe, we are looking at a discrepancy. So tell us why we’re seeing this right now.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Well, again, part of the issue right now that the digital infrastructure for gold is facing is that it is somewhat fragmented, and there are different perceptions of trust and regulation and so on and so forth. And what we’re trying to ensure is that these get more homogenized, and create that infrastructure. Because based on our survey, what we know is that investors were very interested in ensuring that they trust the provider, but also, in some sense, the infrastructure that allows gold to actually be behind this product, so ensuring that gold is backing these products.
Remy Blaire: And it’s really interesting when you take a look at the numbers from the study, because we’re here in the US, in the heart of Las Vegas, and everyone here has gadgets, whether we’re talking about smartphones or iPads or even laptops. So tell us why there’s this lack of trust when it comes to these products, more so in the Western world versus, say, what we’re seeing in India or China.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Well, part of it, I think, has to do with understanding, right? And again, understanding the way that the gold market is connected, the fact that you have a physical asset, in fact, but that you are trying to access it through a digital medium. So part of it, again, is understanding this and understanding the way that the market is structured and how it connects.
Remy Blaire: And of course, we are in the final quarter of 2026, and it has been quite the volatile year, not just in gold but across all asset classes, and in particular commodities. So first and foremost, for viewers out there who are wondering [unclear: “how we’ll end this market”], what types of fundamentals are you looking at? And when it comes to the central banks, in terms of their holdings, what are you seeing right now?
Juan Carlos Artigas: Really interesting. Absolutely. So the gold market has really been at the center of attention for many investors. We focus on four drivers overall for the gold market: economic growth, which underpins consumer demand; investment, so uncertainty and risk, which is usually the way that gold is used, as a countercyclical or defensive asset; opportunity cost, namely interest rates; and then finally, momentum.
As we head towards the end of the year, in particular, the role that interest rates and the strength of the dollar are playing has been important in the way that gold is behaving. However, it is really the overall interaction of these factors, including geopolitical and geoeconomic risk, that is supporting the market.
Remy Blaire: And for viewers out there who have been tracking gold, not just in 2026 but through other cycles, how would you describe this cycle that we’re in right now, and what could they expect moving forward into 2027?
Juan Carlos Artigas: Yeah, absolutely. So, putting things into perspective, the gold price increased about 67% in 2025, right? So gold came from a really strong performance already. So far this year, it has been moving somewhat sideways to flat, including some of the volatility. But, you know, even though it is still under pressure right now, we think that there is potential, especially if geoeconomic or geopolitical conditions start to deteriorate, or if financial conditions also start to come under pressure. That can create support for investment demand, and therefore also support for the performance. And you talked about central banks. Central banks are an important component of this demand as well, and they continue to be net buyers, and have been for quite some time.
Remy Blaire: And finally, JC, before I let you go, we’re only on day two of the conference here on the ground in Las Vegas. So what are your expectations as you head into the rest of the event?
Juan Carlos Artigas: Well, I’m really interested to see how people are interacting not only with the digital assets, but also how assets like gold connect to these worlds. So we really look forward to, you know, speaking to investors and understanding their concerns and their expectations, and, you know, maybe confirming our findings from the report in terms of the potential size of the market.
Remy Blaire: Well, JC, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us here at Money20/20 in Vegas.
Juan Carlos Artigas: Thank you for having me.
Remy Blaire: My pleasure.
