Swiss Bank Managing $5.7 Trillion Launches Joint Gold Initiative with Surprise Altcoin

Swiss banking giant UBS, which manages $5.7 trillion in assets, has successfully tested its UBS Key4 Gold product on the Ethereum Layer 2 network ZKSync, allowing Swiss customers to purchase physical gold directly.

Part of a broader effort to modernize gold investing, the test aims to explore scalability, privacy, and interoperability while expanding the gold supply.

UBS Key4 Gold serves individual clients by allowing partial investment in gold:

• Real-time pricing
• Deep liquidity
• Secure physical storage
• Delivery on demand

The product is built on the UBS Gold Network, a permissioned blockchain that connects vaults, liquidity providers, and distributors to streamline the gold trading process.

UBS tested ZKSync Validium, a scalable ZK Rollup with off-chain data storage to optimize Ethereum’s capabilities for institutional-grade gold trading. Key areas of focus were:

• Scalability: Processing high transaction volumes
• Privacy: Ensuring confidentiality for global customers
• Interoperability: Seamless asset transfers across networks

Christoph Puhr, Head of Digital Assets at UBS Group, said:

“This is another great example of how UBS partners with technology providers to stay at the forefront of innovation. While tokenized securities have significant potential, scalability, privacy and interoperability remain key challenges. Our PoC with ZKSync has demonstrated that Layer 2 networks and ZK technology can be the solution.”

*This is not investment advice.