Metals.io launches 25,000 copper tokens backed by physical metal

Metals.io has issued 25,000 copper tokens, called xCu, with each one representing a single kilogram of refined copper sitting in a warehouse in Hamburg, Germany.

That adds up to 25 tonnes of metal. Modest by commodity-desk standards, but it is a deliberate test run for a company that wants to bring copper exposure to people who have never set foot on a trading floor.

How the xCu token works

The structure is simple to describe. One token equals one kilogram of physical, refined copper held in storage.

According to the research findings on the launch, the platform uses bonded warehouses in the Netherlands and Germany, with this initial copper batch stored in Hamburg. Ownership is recorded on a blockchain as beneficial ownership, meaning token holders hold the economic claim while a custodian keeps the physical metal.

Archax is named as a custody and compliance partner. The setup is designed so the copper is not rehypothecated, which is a technical way of saying the same metal is not quietly lent out or pledged to multiple parties behind the scenes.

The xCu token runs on Etherlink, an application built on the Tezos blockchain. That allows trading around the clock, rather than only when traditional exchanges are open.

The platform also advertises no minimum purchase requirement, no asset management fees, and an option to redeem tokens for physical copper if certain requirements are met.

From uranium to copper

Copper is not Metals.io’s first experiment. The company had already tokenized uranium, gold, cobalt and nickel before adding the red metal.

With xCu, the platform now lists six tokenized metal products: xU3O8 for uranium, VNXAU for gold, xCo for cobalt, xNi for nickel, RARE as a strategic metals basket, and now xCu for copper.

The research findings describe xCu as the first physically backed, spot-price copper investment product aimed at retail investors.

Why copper, and why now

Forecasts cited in the launch research point to a 50% increase in copper demand by 2040, driven largely by electric vehicles, renewable energy, AI data centers and wider electrification.

A single large AI data center could require up to 50,000 tonnes of copper, according to the research findings.

Data-center copper demand overall is projected to reach 1.1 million tonnes annually by 2030. For scale, that one facility estimate is 2,000 times the 25 tonnes backing the entire first batch of xCu tokens.

Metals.io hopes to grow its copper offering to millions of dollars over the next year. That expansion depends on investor demand, so the plan is conditional rather than locked in.

What this means for tokenized commodities

Token holders rely on custodians, warehouse operators and legal structures doing exactly what they promise. Blockchain records can prove who owns a token, but they cannot independently inspect a warehouse in Hamburg.

With 25,000 tokens in the initial issuance, early trading activity on Etherlink will be worth watching.