Metals.io is expanding its tokenized commodities business with the launch of digital assets backed by 25 tonnes of physical copper held in a German warehouse. The initial offering carries an estimated value of $366,000 as the company seeks to create an onchain marketplace for investors to access and trade physical metals.

The company has introduced 25,000 tokens called xCu, with each token representing one kilogram of refined copper stored in Hamburg. Metals.io plans to use the initial issuance to gauge investor interest before increasing its copper-backed offering to millions of dollars over the next year.

“We’d like to reach the millions of dollars, but we’re deliberately starting small to test the water and build sustainably,” said Ben Elvidge, head of alternative assets at Trilitech. The London-based Tezos development firm operates the technical infrastructure and trading platform supporting Metals.io. Elvidge also leads the tokenization business.

The latest product follows the company’s earlier launches of tokens backed by uranium, gold, cobalt and nickel. Rather than offering exposure through mining company shares or futures contracts, xCu is linked to refined copper that has already been produced and placed in storage. Elvidge said the tokens are available for trading around the clock and have no minimum investment requirement.

Copper’s long-term demand outlook is strengthening as investment in electricity grids, electric vehicles and AI data centers accelerates. S&P Global estimates that global consumption could rise by 50% by 2040.

Elvidge explained that xCu holders own a fractional share of branded copper cathodes stored in Hamburg. The tokens are backed by processed physical metal, not undeveloped copper reserves or raw concentrate awaiting further production.

Investors also have the option to redeem their tokens for physical copper. To qualify, holders must have a suitable storage account and complete identity checks and anti-money laundering (AML) verification. The minimum physical redemption amount is approximately 125 kilograms, corresponding to the weight of one copper sheet.

Archax, a regulated U.K.-based digital asset platform with operations in the United States, European Union and United Arab Emirates, acts as trustee for the offering. It is tasked with verifying that the physical copper reserves remain consistent with the circulating token supply.

The company currently has five other tokenized metals products trading on its platform. Uranium has the largest market capitalization at about $9.2 million, while gold follows at roughly $4.1 million. Copper’s initial valuation is already above the combined market value of its nickel, cobalt and rare-earth offerings.

Although tokenized commodities have gained visibility through gold-backed products such as Tether’s XAUT and Paxos’ PAXG, copper has attracted considerably less activity in the blockchain-based investment sector.

The Metals.io offering is also different from Bridgetower’s planned $11 billion copper-gold tokenization project in Arizona. Bridgetower’s initiative is tied to mineral resources that have yet to be extracted, whereas xCu represents refined copper already held in physical storage.

Elvidge said the company will base future copper token issuances on the level of demand it receives from investors.