VNX Gold (VNXAU)

Review open since 2026-10-11: VNX Gold (VNXAU) on Solana: mint authority moved from 51b5UJs8hyyDunrZMWL6ACDXY8FQc1hLLA3M54UksxaY to 9GpoNWNZ8ZLEh8rKKQ358bngFWHmc6nKVcQ9SzCfvRmw; Mint authority gained a holder: 9GpoNWNZ8ZLEh8rKKQ358bngFWHmc6nKVcQ9SzCfvRmw, a single key (not checked against the chain’s log); Mint authority lost a holder: 51b5UJs8hyyDunrZMWL6ACDXY8FQc1hLLA3M54UksxaY (not checked against the chain’s log); Freeze authority gained a holder: 9GpoNWNZ8ZLEh8rKKQ358bngFWHmc6nKVcQ9SzCfvRmw, a single key (not checked against the chain’s log); Freeze authority lost a holder: 51b5UJs8hyyDunrZMWL6ACDXY8FQc1hLLA3M54UksxaY (not checked against the chain’s log) (read at slot 455231454). Ketju will review the file before any client action. A draft revision dated 2026-10-11 is under audit. The verdict stands until the review closes.

Summary

Ketju does not approve VNX Gold (VNXAU): no reserve check covers most of today’s supply, and one private key controls the admin and upgrade powers on every EVM chain. The last check counted 13,100 grams at 2025-12-31 and did not cover Etherlink, where most tokens now sit. VNX Commodities AG in Liechtenstein issues VNXAU at one gram per token under the country’s Blockchain Act. Philoro Edelmetallhandel AG stores the bars in Eschen. About 43,984 VNXAU were outstanding across chains on 2026-09-23, roughly $5.9 million, and 72% of them were on Etherlink. The Terms give the holder a share of numbered bars and keep the gold out of VNX’s bankruptcy estate. But VNX holds the vault account in its own name, and VNX’s register decides who owns what, so a holder who never registers is not yet the owner the documents describe. The reserve check was an agreed-upon procedures report with no assurance. VNX can freeze an address and move its whole balance to itself. vnx.li was offline, and the Terms were available only as a 2023 archive.

Review triggers
• VNX publishes a reserve report, with assurance, that covers every chain including Etherlink
• The admin and upgrade keys move from single keys to a multisig or timelock
• VNX republishes current Commodity Token Terms, or its site returns with different terms
• The FMA lists a MiCA authorization, or a lapse of the token generator or TT depositary registration
• VNX freezes and reclaims a holder’s balance, or supply across chains keeps growing without a reserve report

Ketju checks this memo every night. A review opened on 2026-10-11 and appears under the verdict above. The verdict stands until the review closes.

Research

How it works

The 2023 Terms say a token represents “(partial) ownership in certain specified quantity of a specific Commodity purchased, held and stored by VNX Commodities in Your name.” Section 8 pools the bars in a Collective Token Holders Commodity Deposit and gives each holder numbered pieces matching the tokens held. It lets VNX return an equivalent bar when a holder redeems. Title passes with the token under Liechtenstein’s TVTG, which treats the token as the carrier of the right. Section 16 keeps the deposit out of VNX’s estate in bankruptcy. The Terms deny that the token is a security under MiFID II.

Two qualifications matter. The GitBook says a holder is the lawful owner only “subject to successful registration, identification, and passing anti-money laundering checks.” The auditor calls VNX’s holder register “the basis to assert a property right.” So a holder who buys a token on a DEX and never registers holds, by VNX’s own documents, a claim that VNX must still confirm. And VNX holds the vault account at Philoro in its own name “as the vicarious owner, registrar and depository,” so the vault does not title the bars to holders. The protection depends on Liechtenstein law recognizing that VNX holds them for others.

Withdrawals

A registered, KYC-verified holder moves tokens to a VNX platform wallet. From 1,000 VNXAU, one kilogram, VNX will buy the tokens back for fiat or crypto, usually within a business day. It can instead release a 1 kg bar for collection at the vault or delivery at the holder’s cost. The 2023 fee schedule charges €150 to open an account and a termination fee of 1.5% falling to 0.5% with size. It also charges 0.15% on every on-chain transfer. Storage is free now, but VNX may later take it as tokens from every wallet. A holder of less than one kilogram can only sell on an exchange or a DEX pool.

Who controls it

Ethereum, Base, Polygon, and Etherlink run the same VNXDGR implementation behind transparent proxies. The holder of the asset-protection role can `freeze` any address and then call `reclaimTokensFromFrozenAddress`, which moves the frozen balance to the caller. We count that as a clawback. VNX can pause the contract, the supply controller mints with `increaseSupply`, and VNX can set a fee on transfers. On each chain the owner and proxy admin trace to a single private key, with no multisig or timelock, so one key can upgrade the code. On Solana one key holds both the mint and freeze authority.

The Terms match the code. On a court or authority order VNX may block tokens, move them to its custodial wallet, or cancel them, and it may block platform instructions for “compelling reasons.”

Reserves and regulation

AREVA General Auditing and Trust Company ran agreed-upon procedures on VNX’s reserve report as of 2025-12-31 and found 13,100 VNXAU against 13,100 grams at Philoro. The report says it is “not a reasonable or limited assurance engagement.” It gives no opinion on the holder register, and it lists supply only on Ethereum, Q, Polygon, Solana, and Base. VNX launched on Etherlink in March 2026 and was minting there every few minutes on 2026-09-23. About 31,747 VNXAU sat on Etherlink with no report covering them, and total supply was about 3.4 times the grams last checked.

The FMA register lists VNX as a token generator and TT depositary. Its TT exchange service provider registration expired on 2026-07-02 under the transition to MiCA, and the register shows no MiCA authorization. The Terms name excluded countries only at account opening and do not mention US persons.

Comparison

VNXAU offers an ownership claim similar to PAX Gold’s, under Liechtenstein law instead of New York law. But it adds a 1 kg minimum for redemption, ownership tied to registration, single-key admin control, and a reserve check that no longer covers most of the supply. DGLD holders own specific bars outright, while VNXAU puts VNX’s register between the holder and the metal. Ketju will review VNXAU again if VNX publishes a reserve report covering every chain, moves its keys to a multisig or timelock, republishes current Terms, or obtains MiCA authorization.

Sources

Each claim above comes from one of these sources. Where Ketju could not verify a number, the memo states that.

• VNX Platform GitBook (full text) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: ownership of specific bars, ownership subject to registration, contracts by chain, transfer notification
• VNX Commodities AG: Commodity Token Terms (dated 2023-02-23; Wayback capture of 2023-03-31) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: partial ownership in the holder’s name, collective deposit, bankruptcy remoteness, not a security, enforcement blocking and cancellation, fees
• AREVA: agreed-upon procedures report on the VNXAU reserve as of 2025-12-31 (Wayback capture of 2026-04-24) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: 13,100 grams at Philoro, account in VNX’s name, no assurance, register is the basis of the property right
• FMA Liechtenstein register: VNX Commodities AG · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: token generator, TT depositary, TT exchange service provider expired 2026-07-02
• VNXAU implementation on Base (Sourcify match) · primary · accessed 2026-09-23
  Supports: freeze and reclaimTokensFromFrozenAddress, pause, increaseSupply

The asset and the chain

This memo covers the protocol. A position also holds an asset and settles on a chain. Whichever of the three holds the most power over the position decides who can freeze it. These tables describe control and do not judge quality.