Historically, Gold has played a pivotal role for central banks as a collateral for foreign exchange loans and a tangible anchor for paper currency and monetary reserves among other things.
Over the years, with an evolving world order, the world order of Gold has also transformed, according to World Gold Council's regional CEO Sachin Jain.
Gold's usage has been diversified, Jain pointed out during a panel discussion at the NDTV World Summit, highlighting that more than 40% of gold demand last year was financial.
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"Last year, over 40% of gold usage was financial. That means gold worth $6 trillion was traded," Jain said, adding that gold should be viewed as a long-term asset.
Tushar Vikram, Country Head and CEO of Mashreq India, said the world is becoming increasingly multipolar, leading to new negotiations around trade and currencies.
He also touched upon the internationalisation of the Indian rupee and referred to the RBI's Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) framework that enables trade settlement in rupees.
At this juncture, therefore, Jain sees some distinct possibilities for Gold's future including mining more of the yellow metal in India, advancing gold tokenisation and strengthening India's position as a jewellery manufacturing hub for global markets.
Jain said tokenisation could make gold more accessible, fungible and authentic, helping bridge the gap between physical ownership and digital finance.
On whether gold could eventually be used as currency, Jain said it remains one of the possibilities being considered as financial systems evolve.
Ashish Singhal, CEO of CoinSwitch, said the world could someday return to monetary systems backed by hard assets such as gold, arguing that countries often seek reserve assets that cannot be easily manipulated.
However, Vikram argued that using gold directly as a currency could involve significant transaction costs, making it less practical for everyday use.
For live updates of the NDTV World Summit click here.
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