DMCC opens record silver bar to tokenised investors

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has officially transformed the world's largest silver bar into a regulated tokenised investment, enabling eligible investors to acquire fractional digital interests linked to the 1,971kg Guinness World Record asset. The launch marks the first tokenised commodity asset issued under DMCC's collaboration with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) tokenisation framework, furthering Dubai's objective to establish regulated markets for real-world assets in digital form.

Tokinvest, a Dubai-based virtual asset platform overseen by VARA, issues these fractional interests as an Asset-Referenced Virtual Asset (ARVA), deploying them on the BNB Chain. Secondary-market trading is planned to commence post-issuance, contingent on regulatory and platform prerequisites. The physical silver bar remains the cornerstone of the structure, registered and verified through DMCC Tradeflow, the centre's platform for tracking possession and ownership of commodities stored in UAE facilities.

The 1,971kg silver bar, composed of 99.9% pure silver, was manufactured in the UAE to celebrate the nation's founding year of 1971. It was showcased at the Dubai Precious Metals Conference in November 2025, attaining Guinness World Records status as the world's largest silver bar. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DMCC's executive chairman and CEO, aimed from the beginning to transform this record-breaking physical asset into a tangible example of commodity tokenisation, linking traditional commodities infrastructure with digital technology while preserving a clear link to the underlying silver.

Paul Boots, VARA's senior director and head of sector development, described the Silver Bar ARVA as the first tokenised commodity asset issued under the cooperative framework, highlighting the amalgamation of commodities infrastructure, regulated virtual-asset issuance, institutional custody, and blockchain technology into an investable product.

Tokinvest co-founder and CEO Scott Thiel noted that fractionalisation would enable investors to access an asset otherwise unattainable for most individuals. Investors, including retail participants who satisfy the platform and regulatory criteria, have been able to access the issuance since September 7. The initiative aims to tackle a fundamental challenge in tokenised commodities: guaranteeing that a digital interest remains unequivocally tied to a particular, verifiable physical asset.

In this instance, the bar's registration via Tradeflow, its secure custody, and the regulated issuance process offer distinct layers connecting the blockchain-based interests to the silver. Sami Abu Ahmad, principal CEO of SAM Precious Metals, explained that the bar was crafted to mirror the UAE's precious-metals industry and the importance of the country's founding year.

Tokenisation introduces a novel approach to participating in the ownership of the physical asset. Nader Antar, DMCC's executive vice-president and president of Brink's Rest of World and Brink's Global Services, emphasized that custody and logistics remain vital to instilling trust in assets represented digitally. Brink's is accountable for the secure physical foundation sustaining the tokenised structure.

The launch follows DMCC and VARA's efforts to establish a more comprehensive framework for tokenised commodities and other real-world assets. DMCC is also advancing FinX, an initiative concentrating on digital trade, tokenised assets, and next-generation trade finance, alongside its existing commodities and technology platforms.

DMCC serves over 1,500 companies across its gold and precious-metals ecosystem, encompassing trading, storage, finance, and commodity-ownership registration. Its technology ecosystem comprises more than 4,000 firms, including 750 members of the DMCC Crypto Centre. VARA's issuance regulations mandate ARVA issuers to describe the rights or value allocated to holders and elucidate how the token derives and preserves its value.

Issuers must also pinpoint the type and composition of the real-world reference asset supporting the virtual asset for regulatory evaluation.