Finest fGLD

Research, firm shelf, model-client eligibility, and advisor selection are recorded separately. The scheduled date is the outside bound; new evidence can reopen the file sooner.

fGLD is a Cardano token at one gram of gold per token, issued by FI finest Investments GmbH of Düsseldorf and backed by gold in its depot at pro aurum in Munich. About 1,542 fGLD were outstanding on 2026-09-23, roughly $0.2 million, in 39 wallets. The terms give a “right to purchase goods,” not ownership of gold, so a holder is an unsecured creditor of a small German company for delivery of metal. The only custody confirmation, from October 2024, shows 300 grams, a fifth of today’s supply. One signing key can mint without limit. Gold ships only within Germany and the EU. The assessment is adverse.

Research triggers: events that reopen the assessment or shelf decision
• The issuer amends its terms to transfer title to specific bars held outside its estate
• pro aurum or an auditor confirms gold for the whole supply
• Tokens are minted by another policy, or supply grows without a new confirmation
• The issuer refuses a redemption or sells a holder’s gold for storage fees

The research file

What the holder owns

The operative clause says the token “represents one right to purchase goods for 1g of gold per token”; the German original says “Recht auf Warenbezug.” Under German law that is a claim for delivery of goods of a kind, not ownership of particular bars. Title to specific bars (Eigentum or Miteigentum) would have to be transferred, and the terms never say that it is. They add that holding a token “does not grant an automatic entitlement to the physical delivery of gold.” The gold sits in a pro aurum depot in the name of FI Investments GmbH, so in an insolvency the metal belongs to the company’s estate and holders claim alongside its other creditors. The terms deny that fGLD is a security under MiCA or BaFin rules.

Reserves

pro aurum confirmed on 2024-10-02 that the depot held three 100-gram bars, 300 grams. Minting continued through 2026-04-30 and supply reached about 1,542 fGLD, but no later confirmation or audit is published. The issuer’s own app reports 930 minted and a supply of 1,800, neither of which matches the chain. Nothing published shows gold for more than a fifth of the tokens.

How redemption works

A KYC-verified holder emails a request for at least one token and receives gold by post in Germany (€19 to €49) or the EU (€89), or collects it at a pro aurum branch in Germany or Zurich. Redemption is free and takes several working days; there is no shipping to the US. Purchases cost spot plus €9 a gram and prepay five years of storage. After five years, unpaid storage lets the issuer sell the holder’s gold, and the tokens expire.

Who controls the token

Cardano native tokens have no freeze or clawback at the ledger level, so once issued a token cannot be blocked on chain. The minting policy is a native script that needs one signature, from key hash e7592241…ac88, and has no time lock, so that single key can mint any amount. The terms let the issuer block accounts and confiscate funds of users who break its rules, which it can enforce only by refusing service and redemption. Transfers between holders are allowed only “without the intention of making a profit,” a rule the chain does not enforce.

Comparison and decision

Against PAX Gold, fGLD offers a delivery claim on a small company’s estate instead of title to allocated bars, and a reserve record two years old that covers a fifth of supply. The assessment reopens if the issuer grants holders title to specific bars held outside its estate and publishes a current custody confirmation for the whole supply.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• FI finest Investments: Information and Terms for the finest GoldToken v1.02, English (2024-10-02) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: right to purchase goods, no automatic delivery entitlement, not a security, redemption and shipping, blocking and confiscation, storage lien
• FI finest Investments: Informationen GoldToken v1.02, German original (2024-10-02) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: Recht auf Warenbezug
• pro aurum GmbH: balance confirmation (2024-10-02) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: 300 g in the issuer’s depot
• Finest app API: fGLD project record · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: Cardano policy, reported minted amount and supply

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The most administered layer sets the position’s effective control grade; that is a control description, not a quality or suitability score.