The Tezos ecosystem has expanded its real-world asset capabilities with the launch of Metals.io, a new application enabling users to invest in and trade tokenized commodities, including rare earth metals, precious metals, and critical industrial materials.
Developed by Trilitech, a London-based research and development hub, the platform builds on prior innovation within the Tezos ecosystem, including tokenized uranium ownership. Metals.io is designed as a unified entry point for accessing tokenized assets, allowing users to browse and add commodities to their portfolios through a streamlined web interface. The platform leverages Tezos’ smart rollup technology to deliver sub-50 millisecond latency, enabling near-instant transaction confirmations for traders.
The launch comes amid rising demand for critical minerals and precious metals, driven by both industrial use cases and investor interest in diversification during periods of economic uncertainty. Increased attention has also followed the establishment of a U.S. critical mineral reserve, highlighting the strategic importance of these resources across sectors such as electronics, renewable energy, and defense.
At launch, Metals.io offers access to several tokenized assets, including xU3O8, which represents uranium, VNX Gold (VNXAU), a digital token backed by physically allocated gold stored in secure vaults in Liechtenstein, and the RARE token developed by Noemon Tech Ltd, which provides exposure to a diversified basket of strategic metals. These include materials such as hafnium, rhenium, indium, neodymium oxide, and praseodymium oxide, all of which play key roles in modern technological and industrial applications.
The platform builds on the model established by Uranium.io, which launched on Etherlink, Tezos’ EVM-compatible interface, in December 2024. Uranium.io was designed to reduce barriers to investing in uranium ore concentrate and has helped bridge traditional commodity markets with decentralized finance by expanding access to new types of investors. The platform has received industry recognition, including a Best New Product award at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards. Metals.io now extends this approach to additional commodities such as gold and other base metals.
Tezos, an open-source proof-of-stake blockchain, continues to position itself as infrastructure for scalable decentralized applications, emphasizing governance, upgradeability, and energy efficiency.
KEY QUOTES:
“The current rapid pace of innovation in the AI sector and several other related fields is having a knock-on effect on demand for metals and materials that are critical to these endeavors. RARE enables users to gain digital ownership of a diversified basket of strategic metals – including elements such as hafnium, rhenium, indium, neodymium oxide, and praseodymium oxide – all of which are key to modern technologies and industrial applications. The team at Trilitech has developed an incredible gateway for accessing these assets, and Metals.io is a great showcase of how the future of RWA investing is taking place on Tezos,”
Dimitrios Kavvathas, Founder of Noemon Tech Ltd
“Throughout the 21st century, gold has consistently proven itself as one of the world’s premier assets, delivering stability and preserving wealth when traditional markets waver. VNX Gold (VNXAU) brings this enduring value into the modern era by offering digital tokens that represent verifiable proof of ownership of allocated gold, held in high-security vaults. By combining the strength of industry-leading custodians with the transparency and immutability of blockchain technology, we provide investors with all the security of physical gold, elevated with the efficiency, divisibility, and flexibility of a digital asset, allowing gold to become a fractional and programmable asset that can participate in modern on-chain financial services. Built on the robust and energy-efficient Tezos blockchain, VNX Gold (VNXAU) is making verifiable gold ownership accessible to a new generation of investors,”
Alexander Tkachenko, CEO and Founder of VNX
“Commodity markets are global and indispensable, yet access to them remains fragmented and layered with intermediaries. As the AI revolution accelerates, energy and critical materials are becoming core economic constraints. Tokenization streamlines ownership and transfer of these assets at a global scale. Metals.io represents the maturation of that model, bringing essential commodities directly onto modern digital rails.”
Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos
