Fintech firm InfiniGold said on Thursday it would launch a digital token backed by gold stored in the vaults of Australia's Perth Mint, one of the world's largest precious metals refiners. The token will join a growing number of crypto coins whose value is underpinned by physical gold, such as DigixGlobal in Singapore and Goldmint in Russia.

These aim to tap into the booming popularity of cryptocurrencies while avoiding the extreme volatility of digital coins such as bitcoin.

InfiniGold said the gold used to back the token would be guaranteed by the government of Western Australia, which owns the Perth Mint. That makes it "the world's first sovereign gold digital token," it said. Other mints have shied away from the largely unregulated world of cryptocurrencies.