JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A digital platform that makes investing in platinum easier than ever before is reaping rewards.

In the first three months of 2025, the volume of platinum sold on the DigiPlatinum investment platform soared by 133%, the World Platinum Investment Council reported in a media release to Mining Weekly on Wednesday, April 23.

The number of customers buying platinum on the website is also up 23%, and total weight 50% higher than the corresponding quarter of last year.

Digital platinum can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world with investment in digital platinum differing from investing in bars and coins in as much as it allows the ownership of a fractional amount of platinum, based on value rather than weight.

Unlike bars and coins, digital platinum buying is exempt from value-added taxation.

Once an investment is made, the investor has legal title to the platinum purchased, with the Royal Mint exercising custodianship alone.

“We’ve designed a secure digital platform that makes investing in precious metals easier than ever before,” Royal Mint digital platinum investment platform divisional director Andrew Dickey noted.

Investment-grade platinum bullion bars stored in the mint’s vault physically underpin the amount of digital platinum owned.

The savings achieved by economies of scale are passed on to investors through minimised premiums and storage fees.

The Royal Mint has worked with precious metals for more than 1 100 years. It made the largest ever platinum coin in 2022 to coincide with the year of the platinum jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Made from 95% fine platinum, the dimensions of the jubilee coins are 43 mm x 3 mm, with each gram of the 70 g of pure platinum representing a year of service.

The members of the World Platinum Investment Council include South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum, which is soon to renamed to Valterra Platinum, Impala Platinum, Northam Platinum, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Sedibelo Platinum and Tharisa.