• DRC launches gold-backed SGRT token in pre-sale

• Token promises gold collateral, carbon credit-linked returns

• Project raises legal, liquidity, production feasibility questions

The Sovereign Gold Reserve Token (SGRT) is already in pre-sale on the WinstantGold platform, Bankable observed on Feb. 22, 2026. Its official launch is scheduled later this year in Kinshasa.

The SGRT is a gold-backed crypto asset issued by the Fonds social de la République démocratique du Congo (FSRDC), a public institution under the presidency responsible for reconstruction, poverty reduction and improving living standards.

To achieve those goals, the FSRDC, coordinated by Philippe Ngwala Malemba, a social development expert who spent 10 years at the African Development Bank, is relying on the AXIS program (Asset-eXchange-Impact-Sovereign) to fund sustainable local development. The program aims to convert local resources, such as artisanal gold or forest carbon, into digital assets that can be sold to investors to raise funds without resorting to conventional borrowing.

The SGRT is the first in a planned series of crypto assets. According to the promoters, each SGRT purchased corresponds to one gram of gold yet to be produced. The token would be guaranteed by the state, with four grams of "sovereign underground gold" pledged as collateral, based on the principle that unextracted gold remains state property under the country's laws. How that commitment would be legally structured remains unclear.

Legal tender?

Although the token's value is tied to that of gold, its sale price has not been disclosed at this stage. The acquisition cost will, however, include a government issuance tax equivalent to 3% of the SGRT purchase price, as set out in the AXIS program white paper published last December. For the pre-sale, promoters are promising discounts of "up to 35% below intrinsic value."

According to promotional materials, purchasing an SGRT also entitles the buyer to a bonus token: the FCRT (Forest Carbon Reserve Token), which purportedly represents "carbon credits generated by ethical gold extraction and sustainable practices in the DRC." A promotional video states that "FCRT holders receive a share of revenues generated by the sale of carbon credits, creating a potential income stream," with a promised annual return of 20% to 50%. That promise, however, assumes the promoters can overcome the difficulties of accessing carbon credit markets, which African countries have repeatedly flagged as a persistent obstacle.

The AXIS program's website also states that "the SGRT and FCRT are both recognized as legal tender by the Democratic Republic of Congo." No confirmation of that legal status from the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) has been identified. The white paper, which assigns the BCC a central supervisory role, recommends the adoption of "a specific directive" to govern the convertibility, circulation and interoperability of the SGRT with the banking system and electronic currencies.

Liquidity challenge

According to the white paper, SGRT issuance is capped at 50 million tokens and is expected to unfold over five years. From the sixth year, a second crypto asset would be issued, backed by extracted, refined and certified gold: the SGCT (Secured GoldConnect Token). The SGRT tokens would then be progressively converted into SGCT at a rate of 10% of the total stock per year over a 10-year period. The project is designed to run for 15 years, which is also the duration of the public-private partnership underpinning it.

That PPP, announced on June 28, 2025, links the FSRDC to Phoenix Capital. Based in Sint Maarten, Netherlands, Phoenix Capital describes itself as a company specializing in the tokenization of natural assets, without disclosing any prior track record. Chaired by Alain Lemieux, it signed a partnership with Winstant Ltd for the development of WinstantGold, the platform for issuing and managing the AXIS program's crypto assets. Led by Hervé Lacorne, Winstant Ltd describes itself as a Hong Kong-based startup incubator specializing in financial technology, regulatory technology and biotechnology solutions.

Under the proposed structure, the funds raised through the sale of the initial tokens are intended to finance the production of gold and community carbon certificates, which would in turn serve as backing for the SGCT and FCRT tokens respectively. The arrangement raises questions about liquidity, particularly as no clear buyback mechanism is outlined. To recoup an investment, token holders would need to resell their tokens to third parties or use them for payments. Phoenix Capital says it has made millions of dollars’ worth of international purchases using SGRT.

Custodian undisclosed

Gold would be produced through the Goldconnect initiative, which is intended to organize, trace and formalize artisanal gold in Congo. The initiative would draw on more than 300 gold mining cooperatives supervised by the Service d'assistance et d'encadrement des mines artisanales et de petite échelle (SAEMAPE) under the partnership between the FSRDC and Phoenix Capital. Operations would take place in artisanal mining zones made available by the state. A framework agreement was signed on Feb. 19 between the Ministry of Mines and the FSRDC.

Backing a single token would require the production of four grams of gold. "According to Goldconnect's ethical extraction cost model, producing one gram of gold requires approximately three grams of underground reserves," the white paper states. Over 15 years, the Goldconnect initiative would therefore need to produce at least 200 metric tons of gold, equivalent to more than 13.5 metric tons per year, compared with a peak of five metric tons in official artisanal production to date.

After extraction, the gold intended for backing would need to be refined to a purity level consistent with international market standards, cast into bars, and then stored with a custodian based in Dubai whose name has not been disclosed.

Pierre Mukoko, with Bankable