For most of modern history, gold-backed money has been declared obsolete. And yet, whenever trust in global monetary architecture becomes strained, gold has a way of quietly re-entering the conversation.
That appears to be happening again—this time through the combined emergence of mBridge, the proposed UNIT, and tokenization.
The distinction matters:
The UNIT is best understood as a trade settlement and accounting unit, reportedly backed by a mix of gold and participating fiat currencies within the BRICS bloc.
mBridge is not money at all. It is infrastructure—a blockchain-based settlement rail designed to move value directly between central banks without relying on correspondent banking networks like SWIFT.
Tokenization is the force multiplier. It enables verification, transparency, and enforceability—turning gold backing from a political promise into something that can be digitally confirmed.
Individually, each is interesting. Together, they suggest a system-level shift.
This does not overthrow the U.S. dollar. It does not replace SWIFT overnight. But it does introduce functional competition:
Alternative settlement rails
A gold-referenced unit for trade
A verification layer previous gold-backed systems never had
Historically, gold-backed money failed not because gold was flawed—but because trust was discretionary and opaque.
Tokenization changes that.
Whether or not the UNIT is ever fully tokenized remains to be seen. But the direction is clear: in a multipolar, digital world, global settlement may increasingly depend on systems that are verifiable, programmable, and less reliant on political assurances.
Tokenization may not be the headline—but it may be what rewires the system.
Today, gold is once again being repositioned—not as a domestic currency, but as international settlement infrastructure. This time, however, it is being paired with something previous systems lacked: blockchain-based verification and settlement rails.
The emerging combination of gold, the proposed UNIT, and the mBridge settlement system, strengthened by tokenization, represents a new and potentially powerful evolution of gold-backed money—one designed for a multipolar, digital world.
This is not a return to the gold standard. It is something more modern, more flexible, and more structural.
Gold’s Role Has Always Been About Trust
Gold earned its monetary role long before central banks existed. Its appeal was never ideological. Gold worked because it was scarce, durable, and politically neutral. It allowed settlement between parties that did not trust one another.
As economies expanded, gold’s form changed. Coins gave way to paper claims redeemable for metal. Later, convertibility faded, but gold remained central as a reserve asset—anchoring confidence rather than enforcing discipline.
Each transition reflected the constraints of the era. What remained constant was gold’s function as trust infrastructure. That function is being revisited today.
Why the Current System Is Being Questioned
The modern global monetary system is built around two pillars:
The U.S. dollar as the dominant settlement and reserve currency
SWIFT as the primary global financial messaging network
This system is efficient, liquid, and deeply entrenched. But it also creates structural asymmetries. Nations that do not control the system (90%+ of the world) remain dependent on it for trade settlement, reserves, and cross-border payments.
For the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—those asymmetries have become increasingly visible:
Trade volumes have grown faster than monetary influence
Sanctions and payment restrictions have highlighted vulnerability
Correspondent banking adds cost, delay, and political exposure
The response has not been to abandon fiat currencies or dismantle existing systems. Instead, BRICS policymakers have explored parallel architectures—systems that coexist with the current order but reduce dependency on it. Gold naturally reenters the picture here.
The UNIT: Gold-Referenced Settlement Money
The proposed UNIT is not a retail currency and not a replacement for national money. It is best understood as a trade settlement and accounting unit, designed primarily for use within BRICS trade corridors.
Publicly discussed models describe the UNIT as being backed by a hybrid structure:
40% gold
60% fiat currency, divided evenly among the five founding members
This design is intentional. Gold provides neutrality and credibility. Fiat components preserve flexibility and continuity with existing monetary systems.
The UNIT does not seek to dethrone the dollar globally, at least not yet. Instead, it challenges the dollar’s default role in BRICS trade settlement, offering an alternative reference unit that reduces reliance on any single sovereign currency. But money alone does not create a system. Settlement requires infrastructure. This is where mBridge enters the story.
mBridge: The Settlement Rail
mBridge is not money. It is infrastructure—a blockchain-based, multi-CBDC settlement platform designed to enable direct value transfer between central banks and large institutions.
Unlike SWIFT, which transmits payment instructions, mBridge is designed to settle value itself. It reduces the need for correspondent banks, shortens settlement times, and increases transparency.
The distinction is critical:
SWIFT answers the question: Who should pay whom?
mBridge answers the question: Has payment occurred?
mBridge does not replace SWIFT outright. But it introduces a parallel settlement pathway, particularly attractive to countries seeking to reduce exposure to existing financial chokepoints.
On its own, mBridge is a powerful tool. Combined with a gold-referenced unit like the UNIT, it becomes something more and when tokenization is dropped into the mix, a challenger appears on the horizon.
Tokenization: The Force Multiplier
Gold-backed systems historically failed for predictable reasons: opacity, centralized control, and political override. Trust depended on promises rather than proof. Tokenization changes that equation.
Tokenization allows physical gold held in sovereign vaults to be:
Digitally represented
Cryptographically verified
Independently audited
Programmatically referenced in settlement
In a UNIT–mBridge framework, tokenization could serve as the verification layer that binds money and infrastructure together. Rather than relying on declarations that gold exists, tokenization allows systems to prove it.
How the System Could Work in Tandem
In combination, the components align naturally:
Gold provides neutral, non-sovereign credibility
The UNIT provides a shared settlement and accounting unit
mBridge provides the blockchain-based settlement rail
Tokenization provides verification, transparency, and enforcement
Under such a framework:
Gold remains physically stored within national vaults
Each nation retains sovereign custody over its reserves
Tokenized representations confirm the existence and allocation of gold
mBridge settles obligations using verified balances
The UNIT functions as the accounting and pricing reference
This structure does not eliminate fiat currencies. It operates above them, coordinating settlement without replacing domestic monetary systems.
Challenge or Revolution?
It is important to be precise. This system does not overthrow the dollar or dismantle SWIFT overnight. Instead, it introduces functional competition:
Competition to SWIFT in settlement infrastructure
Competition to the dollar in specific trade corridors
Competition based on architecture, not ideology
Tokenization is what makes this competition real. Without it, the UNIT is an accounting idea and mBridge is an experiment. With it, they become a coherent, auditable system. This is how monetary systems change—not through abrupt replacement, but through parallel adoption.
Why Gold Fits This Moment
Gold is uniquely suited to this role:
Central banks already hold it
Custody practices are established
It is not consumed or degraded
It functions naturally as collateral
Unlike other commodities, gold does not need to circulate to be useful. Its credibility increases when it remains immobile and verified. Tokenization allows gold to be digitally active without being physically mobile.
Historical Continuity, Not Regression
Seen in historical context, this evolution is logical:
Gold as physical money
Gold as paper backing
Gold as reserve asset
Gold as digitally verified settlement anchor
Each stage reflects technological capability and political reality. Tokenization does not restore the gold standard. It modernizes gold’s role as trust infrastructure.
The UNIT and mBridge are not anomalies. They are contemporary expressions of an ancient instinct: when trust is uneven, systems seek neutral anchors.
Conclusion: Tokenization as the Enabler
Gold-backed money has always depended on credibility. What has changed is how credibility can be demonstrated. By combining gold, the UNIT, mBridge, and tokenization, BRICS nations are exploring a system where backing is verifiable, settlement is direct, and trust is structural rather than discretionary.
This does not replace existing systems. It pressures them. It offers alternatives. And once alternatives exist, they tend to persist.
Tokenization is not the headline. It is the enabler—the quiet force that allows gold-backed settlement to function in a digital, multipolar world.
Rhodium is one of the rarest metals on Earth—far rarer than gold or silver—and yet it plays a critical role in modern life. Most people never see it, but without rhodium, today’s emissions standards would be nearly impossible to meet.
As real-world assets (RWAs) move onto blockchain rails, it is natural to ask: Can rhodium be tokenized?
After digging into its supply structure, price behavior, and industrial demand, the answer—for now—is not really.
Rhodium is:
Almost entirely a byproduct metal
Geographically concentrated in a handful of countries
Extremely volatile, with thin and opaque spot markets
Driven by regulation, not investor demand
Tokenization works best where liquidity, transparency, and broad participation already exist. Rhodium meets none of those conditions today.
That does not mean rhodium has no digital future. In a mature RWA ecosystem, tokenized rhodium may emerge quietly—used by industry players for settlement, inventory finance, or compliance rather than speculation.
Not every metal belongs on a blockchain. And rhodium reminds us that “not yet” is sometimes the most honest answer.
Prior to entering the metal space, I assumed only gold and silver were considered precious metals. Wrong. Rhodium is a precious metal, as are all members of the platinum group metals, of which rhodium is a part. However, rhodium sits at the extreme edge of the precious-metals universe. Unlike metals traditionally associated with wealth preservation or adornment, rhodium lives almost entirely in the industrial shadows—embedded deep inside technologies that modern life depends on, yet rarely seen or discussed by investors. That combination of scarcity, opacity, and industrial dependence makes rhodium fascinating, essential—and, at least for now, an uneasy fit for tokenization..
As real-world assets (RWAs) migrate onto blockchain rails, the natural question arises: can an ultra-rare, thinly traded metal like rhodium realistically function as a tokenized asset? Or does its very rarity make it unsuitable for digital abstraction?
Tag along to explore that question in depth.
What Is Rhodium
Let’s start with a bit of metallurgy. Rhodium is a silvery-white, highly reflective metal. It belongs to the platinum group metals (PGMs), alongside platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, and osmium. Chemically inert, extremely hard, and highly resistant to corrosion, rhodium possesses physical properties that make it indispensable for certain industrial applications. It may be almost entirely invisible to the public but not to chemists.
Unlike gold or silver, rhodium is not mined for its own sake. Rhodium is a by-product. Of what you ask? Almost exclusively of platinum and nickel mining. If someone is trying to sell you a rhodium mine, run fast because there are no rhodium-only mines! This structural reality has profound implications for supply, pricing, and ultimately, tokenization.
Rhodium is scarce. Annual global production typically measures in the tens of metric tons—not thousands. By comparison, annual gold production exceeds 3,000 metric tons. This extreme rarity has driven rhodium prices to extraordinary levels during periods of supply disruption or regulatory change.
What Is Rhodium Used For
I think of rhodium as a white hat character in the battle to reduce air pollution. After all its primary use—accounting for the vast majority of demand—is in automotive catalytic converters. Its chemical properties make it exceptionally effective at reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, a key regulatory target in vehicle exhaust systems.
However, rhodium is not a one-trick pony. Nope. Beyond automotive catalysts, rhodium has several secondary uses:
Chemical processing, where it acts as a catalyst in specialized reactions
Electronics, including electrical contacts and thermocouples
Glass manufacturing, particularly in high-temperature furnace components
Jewelry, almost exclusively as a plating material to enhance durability and reflectivity
What rhodium is not used for is equally important. Central banks are not buyers. Retail investors are nonexistent. There is no such thing as a rhodium-based coin. Rhodium’s value exists almost entirely because modern industry and environmental protection laws require it.
Where Is Rhodium Mined
What do rhodium and Nelson Mandela have in common? Both are from South Africa. That’s why if you want to see where rhodium is most plentiful travel to South Africa. Russia, Zimbabwe, and Canada also are minor producers. In other words, rhodium supply is geographically concentrated and that’s important to keep in mind.
This concentration introduces structural fragility:
Labor disputes in South Africa can disrupt global supply
Energy shortages directly affect mining output
Geopolitical tensions can restrict exports
Environmental regulations can alter production economics
Given rhodium is a byproduct metal, miners cannot easily respond to price signals. Even when rhodium prices spike dramatically, production cannot be ramped up independently. This supply inelasticity is one of the defining features of the rhodium market.
Rhodium’s Price History
Rhodium’s price history is best described as a roller-coaster. Let’s dive into that claim using the last 10 years as the test case.
For years, rhodium traded quietly at relatively modest levels. Then, beginning in the late 2010s, a combination of stricter vehicle emissions standards, declining mine output, and supply disruptions triggered an unprecedented surge. Prices skyrocketed from under $1,000 per ounce to peaks exceeding $20,000 per ounce in a remarkably short period. Somebody made a ton of money during those years! As substitution efforts increased and demand cycles shifted, rhodium experienced sharp declines—often with little warning. Meaning, some speculators went home crying with large losses. This volatility reflects rhodium’s structural characteristics:
Thin spot markets
Limited liquidity
Minimal futures infrastructure
Heavy dependence on regulatory demand
For investors, rhodium behaves less like a monetary metal and more like a highly specialized industrial input with speculative overlays. You are now on notice!
Is Rhodium a Viable Candidate for Tokenization
Tokenization thrives on clarity: clear ownership, clear custody, clear valuation, and clear redemption mechanisms; rhodium has some of those aspects. On the positive side:
Rhodium is high-value and compact, making custody efficient
It has industrial relevance, anchoring demand to real-world use
Its scarcity creates a compelling digital-scarcity narrative
However, significant obstacles exist:
Price discovery is opaque, with limited transparent spot markets
Physical settlement infrastructure is underdeveloped
Liquidity is thin, making fractionalization less meaningful
Regulatory classification is ambiguous, especially for retail access
Tokenized rhodium is theoretically possible. However, we don’t live in the world of theory. Hence, better to say it’s practically complex and probably impossible; at least for now. Any credible implementation would need institutional-grade custody, verified assay processes, and a conservative issuance model. A bridge too far.
Tokenized Rhodium Versus Traditional Rhodium Exposure
Traditional rhodium exposure is limited and inefficient. Investors typically access rhodium through:
Physical bars held via specialized dealers
Indirect exposure through mining equities
Occasionally, structured products in select jurisdictions
Tokenization could improve access by:
Enabling fractional ownership
Providing 24/7 global transferability
Integrating rhodium into broader digital portfolios
Yet tokenization does not solve rhodium’s fundamental liquidity constraints. A token can represent rhodium, but it cannot create market depth where none exists. Unlike gold or silver, rhodium tokens would likely remain niche instruments—used selectively rather than broadly.
Industrial and Supply Use Cases
From an industrial standpoint, tokenized rhodium could serve as:
Inventory financing tools for manufacturers
Supply-chain collateral for automotive producers
Hedging instruments tied to emissions-related demand
In theory, smart contracts could align rhodium tokens with industrial delivery schedules or regulatory compliance metrics. In practice, adoption would require significant coordination between miners, refiners, manufacturers, and regulators—an ambitious undertaking. In other words, unlikely.
Restraints, Constraints, and Realism
Rhodium’s biggest limitation as a tokenized asset is not technological—it is structural. Key constraints include:
Supply that cannot respond to price incentives
Demand driven by regulation rather than consumer choice
Extreme volatility unsuitable for many token investors
Limited public understanding and trust
Tokenization excels where assets are already widely held, liquid, and understood. Rhodium meets none of those criteria today.
Long-Term Outlook: Rhodium’s Digital Role
Rhodium is unlikely to become a flagship tokenized metal. It lacks the monetary history of gold, the industrial breadth of silver, or the transitional narrative of copper. However, that does not mean rhodium has no digital future.
In a mature RWA ecosystem, rhodium tokens could exist as specialized instruments, embedded within industrial finance platforms or emissions-compliance frameworks. They may serve corporations rather than retail investors. They may be used for settlement rather than speculation. In that sense, rhodium’s digital role mirrors its physical one: essential, invisible, and highly specialized.
Tokenized rhodium will not democratize wealth. But it may quietly modernize one of the most critical—and fragile—metal markets in the modern economy.
Until next time,
Yogi Nelson
This post is part of an ongoing weekly series on the tokenization of precious metals, published on BlockchainAIForum and LinkedIn, examining custody, regulation, issuer structure, and settlement infrastructure.
Gold tells the story of money. Silver tells the story of versatility. Palladium tells the story of technology, regulation, and fragility.
Long before catalytic converters made palladium famous, it was already a high-tech metal—used in electronics, chemical catalysis, and dentistry. What changed everything was environmental regulation. As emissions standards tightened, palladium became indispensable to gasoline-powered vehicles, eventually accounting for roughly 80% of global demand.
At the same time, supply remained extremely constrained. Palladium is mined primarily as a byproduct, with production concentrated in just two nations. That combination—industrial necessity and limited supply—has made palladium one of the most volatile precious metals of the past two decades.
This is precisely why palladium is a compelling candidate for tokenization.
Tokenized palladium can provide: • Transparent, on-chain ownership • Faster settlement in volatile markets • Fractional access to a scarce industrial asset • Improved supply-chain visibility
Unlike traditional futures or ETFs, tokenization is not synthetic exposure layered on top of complexity. It is direct, verifiable access to a real-world metal that modern technology depends on.
Palladium is not a monetary metal. It does not rely on mythology or tradition. Its value comes from physics, chemistry, and regulation—and in a high-tech age, that makes it a natural fit for blockchain-based infrastructure.
Tokenized palladium is not about hype. It is about alignment—between physical reality and digital systems.
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