Precious Metals & Bullion
Owning gold and silver held for you in a vault: allocated bullion apps and accounts, gold-backed tokens, and the custody, audit and fee terms that decide what you actually hold.
Overview
Precious metals platforms sell gold and silver that a third party stores for you. The question that matters most is what you actually hold. Allocated metal means specific, identified bars or bar sections set aside for you; unallocated metal means a share of a pool, or a claim on the provider for a quantity of metal. The legal form varies more than the marketing suggests: an app may sell you allocated bars under a dealer's forward contract with title held as security, a trust bank may issue a token backed by allocated gold it holds for token holders, and an exchange-traded fund holds metal for its shareholders. The custody evidence varies too, from monthly attestations by an accounting firm to a yearly count of the bars in the provider's own account. Read the customer contract, the custody report and the fee schedule together, because each answers a different part of the question.
Key Benefits
- Direct exposure to the gold or silver price without managing storage, insurance or transport yourself
- Institutional vaults (mints, bullion banks, specialist depositories) rather than storage at home
- Fractional amounts: many platforms sell any dollar amount rather than whole bars or coins
- Allocated structures can keep metal off the provider's balance sheet and out of reach of its creditors, if the contract and storage terms say so
- Published custody evidence on some platforms: bar counts, attestations or reconciliations you can read before buying
Platform Reviews
In-depth analysis using our three-pillar evaluation framework
Paxos
Paxos issues four asset-backed tokens through an OCC-chartered national trust bank and two foreign affiliates: PAXG (one fine troy ounce of allocated London gold per token), PYUSD (the PayPal dollar), USDP and USDG (dollar stablecoins). KPMG attests to each token's backing every month, and on September 30, 2026 the on-chain supply matched those reports to the whole token. Direct minting and redemption are for verified customers: new onboarding is for business entities, existing individual accounts were moved to the Dashboard with withdrawal rights, EU residents have a direct USDG redemption route, and most individuals hold through exchanges and PayPal. A 2025 New York consent order found anti-money-laundering failures and imposed a $26.5 million penalty, and one on-chain address, whose signing arrangements are not public, holds the pause and freeze powers on all four Ethereum contracts.
Vaulted
Vaulted is the McAlvany family dealer's app for buying gold stored at the Royal Canadian Mint and silver stored at HSBC in London, in any dollar amount. Per its FAQ, gold costs 1.8% over spot to buy and 1.8% under spot to sell, about 3.6% for a round trip, silver 3.0% each way, plus 0.4% or 0.6% a year in maintenance. Delivery is available in coins and bars from the dealer's US inventory; the specific serial-numbered bar allocated in the vault cannot currently be shipped. The agreement describes allocated metal that is not the dealer's asset and cannot be pledged; how those rights would be recognized if the dealer failed depends on storage arrangements that are not published.
How to Evaluate a Precious Metals Platform
Find out what you own
Read the customer agreement, not the home page. Look for whether the metal is allocated or unallocated, who holds title, whether the arrangement is a sale, a bailment, a trust, a token or a forward contract, and what the agreement says happens to your metal if the provider fails.
Read the custody evidence for what it tests
A bar count shows the metal in the provider's account on one date. An attestation may show backing against tokens or liabilities. Only a reconciliation of the bar list to customer allocations shows that your holding is covered. Ask for the bar list and check your serial number against it.
Price the round trip and the storage
Compare the buy price and the sell price with a published spot price on the same day. Add the annual storage or maintenance fee and any delivery charge. A spread of a few percent each way means the price has to rise that much before you break even.
Check delivery and exit terms
Confirm what you can take delivery of (the allocated bar, or coins and small bars at retail premiums), where it can be shipped, what it costs, and who buys your metal back and how quickly.
Precious Metals Platform Risks
Important considerations before investing in precious metals & bullion
- Counterparty risk: on many platforms your claim runs through the provider, whatever the vault
- Custody evidence gaps: counts of the provider's bars do not show that customer allocations are covered
- Insolvency terms: few agreements say how customer metal is identified and returned if the provider fails
- Cost drag: buy and sell spreads plus annual fees can take several percent before any price change
- Delivery limits: some platforms deliver other products at retail premiums rather than the allocated bar, or only to certain countries
- Price risk: gold and silver can fall sharply and pay no income while you wait
- Regulatory gaps: physical metal sales by dealers are often outside securities regulation and investor compensation schemes
Due Diligence Checklist
- Read the full customer agreement, including ownership, insolvency, liability, fees and dispute clauses
- Ask for the bar list behind the latest count or attestation and check your serial number against it
- Ask whether any reconciliation of vault holdings to customer allocations is performed, by whom and how often
- Identify the legal entity you contract with and look it up in the state business registry
- Compare buy and sell prices with spot on the same day and add annual fees
- Get a written delivery quote before you need it
- Check how insurance works: who is insured, for what, and the limit
- Ask a tax adviser how gains are taxed; physical bullion is generally a collectible for US federal tax purposes
Real-World Examples
Round-trip example: buying gold at 1.8% over spot and selling at 1.8% under spot costs about 3.6% of spot before storage fees, so the gold price must rise about that much to break even.
Custody example: a yearly count can show that a provider held title to 831 gold bars on one date and still say nothing about whether those bars equal what customers are owed.
Precious Metals & Bullion: frequently asked questions
What is the difference between allocated and unallocated gold?
Allocated gold is specific, identified bars or bar sections set aside for you, usually recorded by serial number. Unallocated gold is a claim for a quantity of metal, typically against a pool or against the provider itself. Allocated structures can keep the metal off the provider's balance sheet, but only the customer agreement and the storage terms say whether they actually do. On Vaulted, for example, the agreement gives the customer title to allocated bars as a nominee, as security for the dealer's promise to deliver, under a prepaid forward contract.
Source: AltStreet Vaulted review
Is a gold vault audit proof that my gold is there?
Not by itself. A bar count shows that the provider's account at the vault held a stated number of bars on one date. To show that your own holding is covered, the bar list has to be reconciled to customer allocations, which most providers do not publish. Vaulted's Bureau Veritas reports count bars to which its dealer held title and say in 2026 that the count is not a warranty as to ownership or title. Paxos's KPMG attestations report PAXG backing monthly, and AltStreet matched the token counts to on-chain supply.
How much does it cost to buy gold through an app?
Look at the price you pay against spot and the price you get back, not just the advertised fee. Vaulted's FAQ puts gold at 1.8% over spot to buy and 1.8% under spot to sell, about 3.6% of spot for a round trip, plus 0.4% a year in maintenance; silver is 3.0% each way and 0.6% a year. Delivery adds shipping and retail product premiums.
Source: AltStreet Vaulted review
Are gold storage apps regulated?
Often not as investments. Sales of physical metal by dealers are generally outside securities registration, and AltStreet located no SEC, FINRA or FinCEN money services registration for Vaulted's dealer. A token issuer can be different: Paxos issues PAXG through a national trust bank supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Check who the counterparty is and what, if anything, regulates it.
How is physical gold taxed in the US?
Physical gold and silver bullion are generally collectibles under section 408(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, and long-term gain on collectibles is taxed at up to 28% under section 1(h). Some platforms describe different treatment for their products; ask a tax adviser what applies to the contract you hold.