How Does Meld Gold Work?
Meld Gold tokenizes physical gold and silver on the Algorand blockchain, where each token represents one gram of metal stored in secure vaults. With $12M in TVL, it allows users to trade, lend, and redeem real precious metals on-chain. The platform integrates with Algorand DeFi protocols like Folks Finance for lending and borrowing.
TVL
$11M
Sector
RWA
Risk Grade
B-
Value Grade
C
Core Mechanisms
6.1.1 Over-collateralized (MakerDAO-style)
1:1 physical gold/silver backing — each GOLD token equals one gram of physical gold held in secure vaults, fully redeemable
Standard RWA tokenization with physical asset backing and custodial vaults
6.4.3 Custom oracle network
Precious metals price feeds for valuing tokenized gold and silver — sourced from global metals markets
Off-chain precious metals pricing fed on-chain
2.1.2 Percentage-based fee
Transaction and redemption fees for buying, selling, and redeeming physical precious metals
Standard RWA platform fee model
5.4.1 Multisig override
Meld Gold team manages token minting/burning, vault relationships, and audit processes off-chain
Centralized team control over critical operations
2.3.2 Foundation-managed treasury
Meld Gold manages the vault network, custodial relationships, and token supply based on physical metal inventory
Off-chain entity manages all physical asset operations
How the Pieces Interact
Discrepancy between physical gold in vaults and tokens in circulation could emerge if audit processes fail or are fraudulent, creating unbacked tokens
Stale gold price feeds during volatile metals markets could lead to incorrect collateral valuations in lending protocols that accept GOLD tokens
If physical redemption is slow or restricted, token price may decouple from underlying metal value, trading at a discount
Algorand network issues or governance changes could affect token operations and DeFi integrations
What Could Go Wrong
- Physical gold and silver custody depends on off-chain vault operators and auditors — token holders must trust the custodial chain
- Redemption of physical metals requires interaction with off-chain entities and may face delays or restrictions
- Oracle dependency for precious metals pricing introduces stale price risk during volatile metals markets
- Algorand ecosystem has limited DeFi depth, reducing composability and secondary market liquidity for GOLD/SILVER tokens
Custodial Failure and Token Depegging
TailTrigger: Vault custodian fails, is hacked, or physical gold inventory is found to be less than tokenized supply
- 1.Audit reveals shortfall in physical gold backing or custodian faces legal issues — Doubt emerges about 1:1 backing of GOLD tokens
- 2.Holders rush to redeem physical gold before supply runs out — Redemption queue builds, processing delays increase
- 3.GOLD token trades at significant discount to spot gold price — DeFi protocols using GOLD as collateral face collateral value drops
- 4.Lending protocols liquidate GOLD positions — Cascading liquidations amplify the discount, TVL collapses
Risk Profile at a Glance
Overall: B- (34/100)
Lower score = safer