Metals.io has issued tokens backed by 25 tonnes of physical copper, the company said, with the metal stored in Germany and valued at $366,000. The move is the platform's first step toward building a market where investors can own and trade physical metal onchain.
What the tokens represent
Each token is tied to copper held in a warehouse in Germany, according to the company. The initial batch covers 25 tonnes of the metal, worth $366,000 at the time of issuance. Metals.io says the tokens give holders a claim on the physical material without requiring them to arrange storage or shipping themselves.
The copper is the first commodity to be wrapped this way by Metals.io. The company hasn't said whether it plans to add other metals or how often new batches will be issued.
Why Germany, and why copper
Germany was chosen as the storage location, though Metals.io didn't explain the reasoning in its announcement. The country is a major European logistics hub, and holding metal there gives the tokens a physical anchor that can be inspected and audited.
Copper is one of the most widely traded industrial metals, used in wiring, construction, and electronics. It's also heavy and expensive to store, which makes it a natural candidate for tokenization: investors get exposure to the metal's price without renting warehouse space.
The pitch: metal trading without the logistics
Metals.io is positioning the tokens as a way to trade physical metal around the clock, rather than during the limited hours of traditional commodity exchanges. The company says the goal is a market where metal changes hands onchain, with ownership recorded on a blockchain instead of through paper certificates.
That model depends on trust in the custodian holding the copper. Metals.io hasn't disclosed the name of the German storage facility or how often the metal will be audited. Those details matter: token holders need to know the copper is actually there, and that it isn't pledged to someone else.
What's still missing
The announcement left several basic questions unanswered. Metals.io didn't say which blockchain the tokens are issued on, whether they're available to retail investors or only institutions, or what fees apply to buying and selling. It also didn't provide a redemption process — how a token holder would go about taking delivery of the physical copper.
At $366,000 for 25 tonnes, the backing works out to roughly $14,640 per tonne. That's the value of the initial batch, not a price guarantee for the tokens, which will trade on whatever market Metals.io builds.
The company hasn't set a date for when trading will open or when the next batch of metal-backed tokens will be issued. For now, the copper sits in Germany, and the tokens exist. The market Metals.io wants to build around them is the part still under construction.
