by Yogi Nelson (Nelson Hernandez)
Most of the conversation around tokenization has focused on gold—and to a lesser extent, silver. That makes sense. Both are stores of value. Copper is different.
Copper is not a hedge. It is not a reserve.
Copper is economic activity itself.
It is the wiring behind:
- Power grids
- Electric vehicles
- Data centers
- Renewable energy systems
And demand is accelerating.
- EVs use 2–3x more copper than traditional vehicles
- Electrification is pushing demand from ~25M tonnes today to ~36M+ by 2031
- AI and data centers alone are expected to add ~2M tonnes by 2040
So the question becomes:
Can copper be tokenized?
In theory—yes.
Copper is:
- Globally traded
- Relatively standardized
- Already stored in warehouse systems
But in practice, it is more complex.
Unlike gold, copper is:
- Consumed, not stored
- Moved across fragmented global supply chains
- Variable in form and quality
👉 Which means tokenization here is less about investment…
…and more about efficiency, transparency, and infrastructure.
If tokenized copper succeeds, it won’t be because markets demanded it.
It will be because the real economy required it.
And as always:
Structure—not story—will determine what works.
Yogi Nelson (Nelson Hernandez)
Blockchain & AI Forum 