Gold has always been seen as a safe haven; yet, for most people, it has been out of reach, locked away in vaults, investment products, or central bank reserves. The arrival of blockchain and Europe’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is changing that dynamic. Clear rules for custody, audits, and transparency are starting to transform gold from an elite asset into something more open and inclusive.
Ubuntu Tribe is one of the projects pushing this shift. Its tokenized gold product is designed to pair the stability of physical gold with the accessibility of mobile technology, allowing people to buy in from just a few dollars. For emerging markets like Africa, where millions remain outside the formal financial system, this model could open entirely new paths to savings and wealth building.
To dig deeper, we spoke with Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, Founder and CEO of Ubuntu Tribe, about the role tokenized gold could play in Africa’s financial transformation, what MiCA means for asset-backed tokens, and how transparency is becoming the foundation for both consumer and institutional trust.
Ubuntu Tribe is among the early tokenization projects positioned under MiCA. Do you think this framework will make gold-backed tokens more attractive to mainstream users who’ve been wary of digital assets?
MiCA changes everything. For the first time, we have clear rules that separate legitimate asset-backed tokens from speculative cryptocurrencies. Users who lost money in FTX or Terra Luna weren’t wrong to be wary — they were right. But MiCA creates a different category entirely: regulated digital assets with real backing, mandatory audits, and enforceable consumer protections.
When someone buys our GIFT Gold tokens, they’re not betting on algorithms or market sentiment. They’re buying actual gold stored in Swiss vaults, verified by independent auditors, and protected by European law. That’s a fundamentally different proposition that mainstream users can understand and trust.
MiCA sets out rules on custody, auditing, and transparency. How do these directly address the trust issues that have limited earlier asset-backed tokens?
Earlier tokens failed because they operated on promises rather than proof. Tether claimed full backing for years before revealing the truth about its reserves. MiCA eliminates this ambiguity by requiring real-time proof of reserves, segregated custody, and regular third-party audits.
At Ubuntu Tribe, we’ve implemented these standards from day one. Our Track n Trace system provides 24/7 transparency into gold logistics and reserves. Independent custodians hold the physical gold, separate from our operations. Auditors verify everything quarterly. Users don’t need to trust us; they can verify the backing themselves.
Outside the EU, regulation is still evolving. Do you see African regulators moving to align with MiCA, and what would that mean for adoption across the continent?
African regulators are developing comprehensive frameworks in parallel with global developments like MiCA. Countries like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria are creating their own regulatory approaches that emphasize similar principles – licensing requirements, consumer protection, and AML compliance – but tailored to their specific markets and financial systems.
For adoption, harmonized regulation would be transformative. Right now, we operate differently in each African market. Unified standards would let us scale faster, reduce costs, and pass those savings to users. More importantly, it would give African consumers the same protections as European ones.
A core part of your mission is enabling fractional gold ownership, starting from as little as $1-$5. Why is this accessibility so important, especially for unbanked and underbanked populations?
Traditional gold investment requires thousands of dollars. That excludes 360 million unbanked adults in Sub-Saharan Africa who need protection from currency devaluation most. Our GIFT Gold starts at 10 cents — one milligram of gold.
For people who earn $2-5 daily, every dollar saved makes a real difference. When your local currency loses 30% annually, even saving $20 in gold protects purchasing power. For workers paid in cash, from market vendors to motorcycle taxi drivers, tokenized gold is a perfect store of value that banks simply don’t provide.
This extends beyond Africa. In Turkey, where the lira lost 80% of its value, middle-class families need fractional gold access. European diaspora communities sending remittances home, whether Moroccans in France or Nigerians in Germany, use GIFT Gold to preserve value across volatile currency pairs.
Some might say gold has traditionally been a reserve asset for the wealthy or for central banks. What is the long-term impact of democratizing access to gold for everyday people?
Gold has protected wealth for 5,000 years, but only for those who could afford it. Democratizing access breaks this historical monopoly. When ordinary people can preserve purchasing power like central banks do, it fundamentally changes economic dynamics.
Long-term, this creates more stable middle classes across emerging markets. People can save for education, start businesses, and weather economic crises without losing everything to inflation.
We’re seeing adoption from unexpected places: young professionals in Berlin hedging against inflation, Turkish businesses preserving cash reserves, and diaspora communities from London to Dubai using tokenized gold for cross-border wealth transfers that traditional remittance services can’t match.
It also reduces dependency on volatile local currencies and predatory financial products. We’re essentially giving everyone the same tools that wealthy families have used for generations
Trust is central to adoption. What systems have you put in place to show that every token is fully backed, and how do you provide ongoing assurance to users?
We provide proof instead of promises. Our proof of reserves system runs 24/7 and allows anyone to verify that GIFT tokens match physical gold reserves. We publish vault certificates, audit reports, and real-time data publicly. Users can trace their specific gold allocation down to the vault location.
We also put multiple fail-safes in place: segregated custody means gold can’t be touched even if Ubuntu Tribe fails; insurance covers the full value; and smart contracts prevent the creation of tokens without corresponding gold deposits. Users don’t need to trust our word – they can verify everything independently through blockchain records and third-party attestations.
Can you share more about your independent custody and audit partners, and how frequently reserves are verified?
We work with LBMA-certified vaults in Switzerland, Germany, and Dubai for custody, institutions that have stored sovereign gold for decades.
Our European operations serve everyone from German fintech companies to Turkish gold dealers, while our Dubai hub handles significant volumes from both local UAE demand and diaspora remittances flowing to Africa and Asia.
Verification happens at three levels: daily internal reconciliation, monthly custodian reports, and quarterly third-party audits. Everything gets published publicly. We chose partners based on their reputation in traditional finance, not crypto.
Beyond individual users, how are you addressing the needs of institutional investors who may expect even stricter compliance and reporting standards?
We provide API integration for automated reporting, custom custody arrangements for large holdings, and dedicated account management with institutional-grade SLAs. Our infrastructure handles everything from family offices parking $10 million to pension funds that are looking for exposure to gold.
We also offer enhanced KYC/AML procedures, segregated institutional vaults, and direct audit access for their compliance teams. Many institutions use GIFT Gold as collateral for loans or as a treasury management tool. The key is providing the same operational excellence they expect from traditional gold ETFs, but with blockchain’s added transparency and efficiency.
The gold-backed token market is growing. How does Ubuntu Tribe set itself apart from other projects in this space?
Most gold tokens target crypto traders. We designed our platform for people who save in gold, not those who speculate with it. Our minimum purchase of 10 cents versus others that require thousands makes us accessible to billions, not millions.
We’re also the only project that actively partners with African governments and financial institutions. While others focus on crypto trading, we serve real-world needs – from Turkish merchants hedging lira volatility to diaspora workers in European cities sending stable value home to families in volatile currency zones.
Our local presence, mobile-first approach, and integration with payment systems like M-Pesa give us our edge.
Looking ahead, do you see Ubuntu Tribe expanding into other real-world assets, or will gold remain the core focus of your vision for digital wealth-building?
Gold is still our main focus because it addresses the immediate need for wealth preservation in emerging markets. We’ve built our entire infrastructure around gold tokenization, from custody partnerships to regulatory compliance to proof-of-reserves systems.
Any future expansion would need to serve the same fundamental purpose: protecting purchasing power for people who lack access to traditional wealth preservation tools. We evaluate potential assets based on whether they solve real problems for our target users.
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Source: https://finbold.com/ubuntu-tribe-mamadou-kwidjim-toure-interview/
