The Market Opportunity

The nGRND Gold Protocol has been developed at the intersection of several rapidly expanding global markets, including sustainable resource management and responsible mining, conscious ESG, climate and impact investment (Green Central Banking, 2025; HSBC, 2025), digitised gold, and Web3 economies. Together, these sectors represent a structural shift in how natural real-world resources, financial infrastructure, and digital communities interact and pragmatically impact the future socioeconomic global economy.

The following sections examine the principal market drivers supporting the long-term opportunity for the nGRND Gold Protocol Ecosystem, including the growing demand for sustainable alternatives to traditional mining, the expansion of ESG, climate and impact-focused investment strategies, and the emergence of blockchain infrastructure capable of enabling scalable digital participation, governance, provenance and on-chain treasury systems.

Sustainable Resource Management

Sustainable resource management and responsible mining impose obligations and accountability on the resources sector to ensure that extractive mining activities do not jeopardise the long-term health and wellbeing of people or the planet for short-term gains (International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), 2026). The ICMM Principles for Materials Stewardship and Responsible Mining; Corporate Sustainability Requirements (CSR) and CSR reporting directives; ESG standards; and the 2030 targets established by the United Nations 17 SDGs (United Nations, 2026) are increasingly critical factors across global commodity and infrastructure markets, particularly in industries associated with high environmental and socioeconomic impact. The global gold industry sits directly within this transition, as gold remains a multi-trillion-dollar global asset class and stands as the global backbone of enduring wealth, economic significance, and a hedge against economic instability.

Traditional extractive gold mining is slow, inefficient, and environmentally damaging. The serious global environmental degradation across land, water, biodiversity, and atmospheric systems, its detrimental impact on people, and the inefficiencies of gold production highlight the need for new financial and sustainability models that keep gold in the ground.

For most proven resources, the realistic end-to-end timeline from initial discovery of gold to sustained commercial production is 7 to 20 years, depending on jurisdictional efficiency, deposit complexity, financing strategy, traditional landowners, community displacement, energy requirements and climate impact. For most developers this remains a difficult or, in many cases, impossible task, and many properties are bought and sold multiple times before production is even contemplated. This leaves these valuable assets stranded in

Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Production

Gold production has major negative impacts on people and the environment. The following illustrates some of the detrimental impacts, both globally and geographically specific.

e The global gold industry’s carbon footprint comprises 0.3% of global emissions - greater than all intra-European aviation emissions (excluding indirect emissions from electricity use) (Dehkordi et al., 2024).

¢ Gold mines emit on average 0.8 tonnes of CO2 for every ounce of gold extracted (S&P Global Markets, 2019).

¢ Significant deforestation and degradation of landscapes, including soil erosion, water shortages, and destruction of ecosystems.

e Water usage in gold mining is vast: 1 kg of gold requires 265,000 litres of water to produce.

¢ Gold mining generates approximately 180 million tonnes of toxic waste annually, routinely containing dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and cyanide, often leading to local and regional water contamination and habitat destruction.

e Gold generates more waste per ounce than any other precious metal. Geographically:

e Safety concerns and lives lost in areas including Niger, Canada, the USA, Turkey, Australia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, the Republic of Congo, and Indonesia.

e The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that abandoned hard-rock mines have contributed to the contamination of 40% of the country’s rivers and 50% of all lakes.

e 10% of all industrial toxic waste releases reported to the EPA in the US originate from gold mines.

e Nearly three-quarters of all active mines and exploration sites overlap with regions defined as of high conservation value.

As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate policy, global ESG regulations, and SDG-measured finance requirements continue to escalate, there is increasing demand for alternative approaches to resource management capable of reducing environmental impact while supporting long-term economic value creation. However, while this sustainability-focused research demonstrates the extreme harm caused by the extractive gold industry, market demand for gold is expected to continue rising over time due to its noble qualities, scarcity value, durability, and historical trust as a store of value and financial importance for hedging risk in global investment markets. This is the market problem and opportunity being targeted and ultimately solved by the nGRND Gold Protocol.

At the start of 2025, an estimated 216,265 tonnes (Neufeld, 2025) of above-ground gold stock existed worldwide, with approximately two-thirds of that extracted since 1950 (World Gold Council, 2025). However, significant volumes of known verified in-ground gold resources (~184,000 tonnes) remain undeveloped, often due to permitting, infrastructure, financing, environmental, or other logistical challenges.

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Whilst approximately 70% of in-ground Mineral Resources sit with the operating major or senior Tier 1 mining companies, approximately 30% of Mineral Resources can be attributed to junior mining companies, less likely to lead to extraction and contribute to gold production (London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), Webb, 2026).

These Mineral Resources represent the substantial upstream addressable market opportunity for nGRND’s Preserved Gold Site monetisation initiatives, as these gold resources are often currently economically stranded despite geological verification. In-ground Reserves likely to overcome these issues and continue to extraction are not a target market for nGRND.

The nGRND Gold Protocol plans to capitalise on this evolving market environment with the introduction of Preserved Gold: known verified in-ground gold resources intentionally maintained in the ground and monetised via 30-to-100-year avoided mining and alternative land use initiatives. Instead of relying on environmentally harmful extraction, the Protocol is sustained by real revenue distributions from a range of measured ESG, SDG and other sustainability impact monetisation initiatives and strategies.

This innovative solution provides an ability to measure the nGRND Gold Protocol Ecosystem’s impact against the UNFCCC Article 6 Paris Agreement; the 17 UN SDG targets; ESG regulatory frameworks; and other climate and biodiversity frameworks. This positions the Protocol as a state-of-the-art business and technology model that supports verified gold discovery for property owners and investors whilst concurrently addressing the critical need to transition to a low-carbon, more sustainable, climate-positive economy with sustainable natural resource management.

ESG, SDG and Sustainability Investment and Natural Wealth

Global investment has already shifted toward ESG, SDG, sustainability and climate-risk-reduction strategies that combine financial returns with measurable environmental and social outcomes. The Impact Investment Market was valued at USD$1.33 trillion in 2024 and is expected to reach USDS1.88 trillion by 2029 (The Business Research Company, 2024; 2026).

Distinct from their importance to a low-carbon economy, carbon credits - such as those generated from avoided mining on Preserved Sites - are an investment commodity not included within the impact category and are expected to grow from USD$933 billion in 2025 to approximately USD$16.4 trillion by 2034, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.68% (SpaceNus, 2025). This exponential growth opportunity is driven by an escalating global regulatory and compliance push, as well as increasing investor awareness of the potential rewards of this alternative investment class. This performance is also uncorrelated with traditional markets for bonds, stocks, funds and real estate, offering an attractive portfolio diversification that hedges against economic volatility.

Investors in natural wealth are being increasingly forced to explore sustainable infrastructure, carbon markets, and alternative real-asset strategies as part of this broader global transition.

Gold presents a significant challenge to this transition: despite the indisputable harm caused by extraction, gold has remained an important asset in global investment for thousands of years due to its scarcity, durability, fungibility, and long-standing perception as a store of value (Vantage Markets, 2024).

Gold continues to serve as a strategic reserve asset for governments, central banks, institutions, and private investors, due to its historical role as a hedge against inflation and systemic financial risk. While other assets lose value, gold typically gains value during periods of inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, currency instability, and financial market volatility. This is truer today than ever before, as the unprecedented macro-economic events of 2025 led to the largest annual return on investment (ROI) on gold markets since 1979, generating over 65% ROI before correcting in January 2026 (Jury, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, 2026).

The nGRND Gold Protocol has been developed in response to the growing need for more sustainable approaches to natural resource management and monetisation. In doing so, nGRND has produced an alternative system that prevents harmful extraction, secures in-ground gold resources, and generates revenue from Site Programmes that is distributed to sustain the nGRND Gold Protocol.

As global markets and regulatory frameworks continue to evolve, nGRND is well positioned at the intersection

of sustainable resource preservation, natural wealth management, and next-generation RWA infrastructure.

CLIMATE, COMMUNITY UPLIFT AND SOCIAL IMPACT OUTCOME METRICS

BIODIVERSITY, RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION OUTCOME METRICS

Web3 Infrastructure and Digitised Gold

Web3 technology and crypto assets are increasingly transforming how financial infrastructure, ownership

systems, and global investment markets operate, particularly with regard to digitised gold.

Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, the digital asset sector has expanded into a multi-trillion-dollar global industry with over 580 million participants worldwide, representing over 9.9% global adoption (Singh, 2026), and encompassing applications such as cryptocurrencies, decentralised finance (DeFi), stablecoins, digital

identity systems, and smart-contracted participation economies.

Cryptoasset adoption is increasingly driven by economic necessity, financial inclusion, and youth-driven

70% - Gen Z (18 to 28) 61% - Millennials (29 to 44) 40% - Gen X (45 to 60) 22% - Boomers+ (61+)

Adoption of digital wallets for purchases: ° 84% -GenZ ° 81% - Millennials ° 60% - Gen X ¢ 30% - Boomers+ Investor statistics: © 60% of global crypto users are under 35 (Gen Z and Millennials). e 45% of crypto investors are Millennials. e Gen Z typically invest under USD$1,000. ¢ Gen X adoption is rising the fastest, with significantly higher investment portions.

e Among cryptoasset ETF holders, the median allocation is ~5% of total assets (The State of Stablecoins, 2025).

Speed to Market: Web3 Gaming

The nGRND Gold Protocol is poised to capitalise on its Gaming Participation Stream and other gamified activities and partnerships as the most accessible and quickest avenue to introduce the Ecosystem to new participants, where gaming already constitutes a substantial portion of blockchain transactions.

e The market capitalisation for digital assets in gaming, specifically blockchain gaming tokens, was estimated at approximately $8.83 billion to $17.8 billion as of late 2024 (Kroger, 2024).

The nGRND Gold Protocol Ecosystem includes sponsored mobile games, including Gold Fest and Dig It, which have collectively already attracted over 855,000 players across more than 200 countries. This participant base was driven by distinct titles designed to introduce mainstream audiences to new value-driven digital economies. Across both games, Daily Active Users (DAUs) average over 220,000, indicating strong retention beyond initial sign-up spikes.

Caveat BVIs and Web3 Gaming

nGRND Gold Protocol requires its Web3 gaming assets including (but not limited to) all autonomous operations of the assets including technical support, customer support, marketing, and quality assurance to be conducted in entirety outside the BVls and to prohibit participants whose jurisdiction of residence is the British Virgin Islands. Residents from the BVI who attempt to circumvent prohibition will be disqualified from exchanging any in game rewards for any nGRND Gold Protocol Token or consideration of any kind through the assets as they may be in contravention of the BVI Gaming and Betting Control Act, 2020 (as amended).

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Concurrently, in the last 10 years, 175 tonnes - or 22% - of all gold investment was digital, including ETFs (World Gold Council, 2026). The Royal Mint (UK) detailed in 2026 that young people (Gen Z) are set to invest £9.4 billion as alcohol, travel and fast fashion take a back seat. The ‘digital gold’ mindset exists, with many believing that The Royal Mint’s DigiGold offering is a simple and cost-effective way to own gold and diversify their portfolio.

The attractiveness to this audience of long-term, sustainability-focused financing is strong, with the Dual Treasury of Preserved Gold, its potential realised appreciation, and 30-to-100-year Preserved Site monetisation. While the tokenisation structure of the Ecosystem remains intentionally flexible, the utility-token Protocol architecture has been designed to support future integration with tokenised natural resource frameworks, alternative asset structures, treasury-backed systems, and broader digital commodity

infrastructure as market conditions and regulatory environments evolve.

Market Positioning and Competitive Advantage

The nGRND Gold Protocol combines three powerful value distribution drivers that sets nGRND apart from any competitor:

By preserving gold in the ground, the nGRND Gold Protocol sustains climate positive environmental preservation and reduces significant carbon emissions - and delivers on the need for ethical stewardship for people and the planet. nGRND recognises this verified in-ground gold as a strategic treasury asset that may reward participants with its potential realised appreciation.

Participants contribute to and benefit from Preserved Gold Sites that monetise alternative land use initiatives that measure impact against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Biodiversity and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets. Through the nGRND Gold Protocol Ecosystem participants are rewarded from initiatives that deliver positive outcomes for communities, natural environments, and future generations.

The nGRND Staking and Rewards Platform transforms passive ownership into active rewarded participation. Token holders can stake NGRND tokens [NGRND) and earn rewards through engagement across Participation Streams including Governance, Learn, Advocacy, Refer, Impact, Wellbeing, Gaming, and AI-powered Agent activities.

Rewards are paid to staking participants from the Staking Rewards Pool that is sustained by revenues from the potential realisation of the appreciation of the Preserved Gold Treasury, alternative land use monetisation, and other revenue distributions.

The nGRND Gold Protocol creates a unique intersection of: Preserved Gold treasury exposure

Measured impact from ESG, SDG and other sustainability initiatives Community participation

By aligning economic incentives with ethical stewardship, the nGRND Gold Protocol enables participants to build value while helping preserve natural resources for future generations.

nGRND Gold Protocol

Underlying Value Treasury + Utilties In-ground gold Physical vaulted Physical vaulted Physical gold Extraction Required No No v Yes v Yes v Yes

Yield Generation V Staking + ecosystem None ~3-4% limited None None

Token Utility V High Minimal None Minimal None Governance Rights v Yes No No No No

Target Market Retail + Web3 + ESG ESG + macro Institutional Crypto + retail Global investors Scalability VY. High (no mining limit) High Limited Limited Limited Core Narrative "Value without extraction” "Gold without mining” “Gold with yield" “Digital gold ownership’ _-“Store of value"