The 1,971kg silver bar, produced in the UAE by SAM Precious Metals, now underpins fractional digital interests issued through Tokinvest under the DMCC-VARA tokenization framework. (Image source: DMCC)Dubai Multi Commodities Centre has formally launched fractional digital interests linked to the world’s largest silver bar, converting a record-setting physical object into the first tokenized commodity asset issued under the DMCC–Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority framework. eligible investors have been able to access the product through Dubai-based Tokinvest since September 7.
Weighing 1,971 kilograms, or approximately 4,346 pounds, the bar was produced in the United Arab Emirates by SAM Precious Metals using silver with a stated purity of 99.9%. Its weight was deliberately chosen to commemorate 1971, the year the UAE was founded. Guinness World Records lists Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority and SAM Precious Metals as the record holders and dates the achievement to November 25, 2025.
The bar was initially presented at the Dubai Precious Metals Conference in November 2025, when the organizations involved outlined plans to tokenize it. September’s launch moves the project beyond that announcement by making fractional interests available to approved participants. The physical bar remains intact and in secure storage; investors acquire digital interests connected to the asset rather than receiving individually separated portions of silver.
Tokinvest is issuing the interests as an Asset-Referenced Virtual Asset, or ARVA, with the associated tokens deployed on BNB Chain. The structure is intended to divide an otherwise indivisible asset into smaller digital holdings that can be recorded and transferred without moving the underlying bar each time an interest changes hands. Secondary-market trading is expected to begin after the initial issuance, subject to regulatory requirements and the platform’s own conditions, DMCC said.
Responsibility for the project is divided among several organizations. SAM Precious Metals manufactured the bar, while Brink’s provides physical custody and logistics. The asset is registered and verified through DMCC Tradeflow, a platform used to record the possession and ownership of commodities held in UAE-based storage facilities. Tokinvest handles the regulated issuance, distribution and planned secondary-market activity.
Regulatory records support DMCC’s description of Tokinvest as a licensed operator. VARA’s public register lists Tokinvest DMCC as an active virtual asset service provider authorized for broker-dealer services and Category 1 virtual asset issuance. Its license permits the company to serve institutional, qualified and retail investors, although participation in this particular offering still depends on jurisdiction, identity verification, onboarding and other eligibility requirements.
The silver product is the first completed commodity issuance to emerge from a wider partnership announced by DMCC and VARA in October 2025. That agreement called for the development of infrastructure and regulatory processes supporting tokenized commodities, including potential pilot projects involving gold, diamonds and other physical assets. The Government of Dubai Media Office said the collaboration would also cover investor education, data sharing and market analysis.
Tokenization may lower the financial barrier to participating in ownership of a large or unusual asset, but it does not remove the conventional risks attached to that asset or the digital structure built around it. The value of an interest can move with silver prices, while the record status and collectable nature of the bar could make valuation less straightforward than pricing standardized bullion. Investors must also consider platform access, custody arrangements, fees, legal rights and the availability of buyers if they later want to sell.
DMCC said regulated secondary-market trading is scheduled to follow the initial issuance, subject to regulatory and platform requirements. Once available, the market would allow eligible holders to trade their digital interests without requiring the physical bar to be divided or moved. The planned rollout expands the project from fractional issuance to a model designed to support continuing access and transferable ownership.
Dubai already has substantial physical infrastructure for trading, registering and storing commodities. The silver-bar project adds blockchain-based issuance to that system while leaving custody and verification of the underlying metal with established service providers. Instead of treating tokenization as a replacement for vaults, registries and logistics, the arrangement places a digital ownership layer over those existing functions.
Investor protection will depend on how closely the digital records continue to correspond with legal rights in the physical asset. Regular verification, reconciliation and clear procedures covering transfers, redemptions, custody problems or a platform failure are consequently important. Tokinvest’s active VARA license provides the regulatory basis for its role in the project, covering broker-dealer services and Category 1 virtual asset issuance for eligible institutional, qualified and retail investors.
The launch brings the main parts of commodity tokenization into one structure. The silver was produced in the UAE, registered through DMCC Tradeflow, secured by Brink’s and linked to digital interests issued by Tokinvest. It also puts the DMCC-VARA framework into practice for the first time, creating a model that could support other tokenized commodities in Dubai.
