SmartGold and Chintai Tokenize $1.6B in IRA Gold, Offering DeFi Yield to U.S. Investors

SmartGold, a gold-backed individual retirement account (IRA) provider, has teamed up with tokenization platform Chintai Nexus to enable U.S. investors to blockchainize their Gold holdings and earn yields through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The partnership allows IRA-held gold to be tokenized 1:1 on Chintai's regulated platform, which can then be used as collateral on DeFi lending markets like Morpho and Kamino.

This structure unlocks liquidity while the underlying gold remains vaulted and insured, preserving the account's tax-deferred status. The initiative, dubbed MOVE, resolves a long-standing dilemma for retirement savers: gold's stability versus its lack of income generation. Historically, IRS rules made it nearly impossible to combine gold's tax advantages with yield-generating strategies without incurring penalties.

"For decades, gold investors have faced a difficult choice: security or yield," said SmartGold managing director Aaron Haley. "We're turning the ultimate safe-haven asset into a powerful, productive tool for building wealth." The rollout grants SmartGold's $1.6 billion in vaulted assets access to tokenization, marking one of the largest deployments of its kind.