DRC Launches Gold Backed Crypto Token Under AXIS Development Program

Pre-sale of the Sovereign Gold Reserve Token (SGRT), a gold-backed crypto asset issued by the Fonds social de la République démocratique du Congo, has begun on the WinstantGold platform ahead of an official launch later this year in Kinshasa.

Funding Development Through Tokenization

The FSRDC, a public institution under the presidency focused on reconstruction and poverty reduction, is using the token as part of its AXIS (Asset-eXchange-Impact-Sovereign) program. Philippe Ngwala Malemba leads the initiative after spending a decade at the African Development Bank as a social development specialist. Through AXIS, the institution aims to turn natural resources such as artisanal gold and forest carbon into digital assets that investors can buy, allowing the government to raise funds without traditional sovereign borrowing.

Promoters say each SGRT represents one gram of gold that still needs to be produced. Four grams of “sovereign underground gold” support each token under national laws that treat unextracted minerals as state property. The exact legal structure behind this guarantee, however, remains unclear.

Investor Incentives and Legal Questions

The project has not disclosed the token’s sale price, but buyers will pay a 3% government issuance tax. During the pre-sale, promoters advertise discounts of up to 35% below intrinsic value.

Buyers also receive a bonus asset called the Forest Carbon Reserve Token (FCRT), which promoters link to carbon credits from ethical gold extraction. Marketing materials mention potential annual returns of 20% to 50%. Those projections depend on access to global carbon markets, which many African countries still struggle to enter.

Project materials also state that SGRT and FCRT would qualify as legal tender in the Democratic Republic of Congo, although the Central Bank has not confirmed the claim.

Long-Term Plan and Implementation

Under the plan, SGRT issuance will reach a maximum of 50 million tokens over five years. Developers intend to introduce a second asset called the Secured GoldConnect Token (SGCT). Refined and certified gold would back the token, while SGRT would gradually convert into SGCT over ten years.

The project is planned as a 15-year public-private partnership between the FSRDC and Phoenix Capital. Phoenix Capital, based in Sint Maarten, focuses on tokenizing natural assets.

Goldconnect would organize gold production for the project by working with artisanal mining cooperatives under state supervision. The required volumes exceed the country’s current recorded artisanal output, raising questions about feasibility, liquidity and execution.

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