This sounds interesting and much better than the current system of futures. If it replaced the Comex (when that fails and goes away) it should end the naked paper shorting that suppresses the price. However, it still relies on a counter party(HSBC in this case) so the old rule that if “you don’t have it in your physical possession, you don’t own it” still applies.

https://fintechnews.ch/blockchain_bitcoin/hsbc-executes-first-tokenised-physical-gold-trades/64612/